NSW managed to avoid large-scale blackouts amid record electricity demand and the sudden loss of about 2000 megawatts of power when bushfires disrupted transmission from Snowy Hydro.
Energy and environment minister Matt Kean told theHerald on Sunday briefings from TransGrid and the market operator had reassured him there has so far been no significant damage to the giant Snowy scheme.
While crews have not been able to access the whole region,"they believe there is no significant damage to the main assets",Mr Kean said.
"The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) says it was their toughest day to operate the system in over a decade,"he said,adding that preliminary data indicates demand in NSW was a record for a Saturday.
At about 5.15pm on Saturday bushfire smoke caused electricity to arc on main transmission lines,triggering automatic shutdowns to protect key equipment. The 2000-megawatt capacity loss was about 15 per cent of supply and came as demand was about to peak at 6pm after temperatures in western Sydney soared to a record 48.9 degrees.
NSW was also"separated"from Victoria with the interconnector between the two states shutting off,sending spot market prices for electricity to their maximum of $14,700 per megawatt-hour,compared to sub-$100 in normal times.
Mr Kean and AEMO appealed for consumers on Saturday afternoon to turn off appliances across the state to conserve supplies.
Two potlines were turned off at the Tomago aluminium smelter – the plant near Newcastle typically accounts for about 10 per cent of NSW demand – to help balance supply and demand.
"AEMO estimates we saved 200-300 megawatts of demand"through the public appeals,Mr Kean said."There was no surplus - every single megawatt counted."