Some developers of wind and solar projects in Australia have been told that all start-up and approval activities have been suspended until further notice, as the market operator focuses its efforts on the supply crisis. in the market.
The Australian energy market operator sent emails to several project developers late last week informing them of the decision, prompting cries of frustration in some sectors over new obstacles to an already difficult process.
The suspension is expected to affect a number of wind and solar farms operating during various levels of the commissioning process, and may also affect some heat generators awaiting approval to return to service after repairs. .
Wind projects that have yet to complete their commissioning process include Stockyard Hill, Moorabool and Murra Warra 2 in Victoria, along with the Port Augusta Renewable Energy Hub, the nation’s largest hybrid wind and solar project.
The large Wandoan battery in Queensland, the first in Queensland, is also awaiting final approval to operate without restrictions and may also be affected by the suspension.
Solar farms working during the start-up process include the Western Downs, Blue Grass and Columboola solar projects in Queensland, and the Metz and Wagga Wagga North solar farms in NSW.
It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. The most affected will be those projects that are currently seeking to increase production by adding capacity or moving to new “retention points”.
AEMO earlier this week suspended spot trading across the National Electricity Market for the first time as a result of chaos caused by rising wholesale prices that led to an automatic price cap followed by the massive withdrawal of capacity.
One developer noted the irony of the situation in which the market operator is forced to instruct existing generators to turn on when needed, but has halted the process of approving the much-needed new capacity.
Australian wind and solar projects have already undergone lengthy connection and commissioning processes, some due to faulty equipment, some due to network limitations and others due to the complexity and delays of the process itself.
In some parts of the network, AEMO has returned to “sequencing” connections, processing one or two projects at a time to make sure it can maintain network stability. Many projects have been delayed by up to two years.
“This seems absurd and is a problem of its own creation,” said an executive with a frustrated renewable energy developer.
“They are issuing market instructions forcing generations to enter the market, so it seems strange that they are preventing others from coming. We need to be part of the solution.”
Update: An AEMO spokesman later told RenewEconomy that it faced huge operational challenges to maintain supply and focused resources on labor-intensive manual deployment.
“While we have continued to make progress in the start-up of more than 500 megawatts of plant over the past week, we have had to adjust some plant’s schedules due to our operational resources that prioritize reliability and general security of the system, “the spokesman said.
“We hope that these adjustments will be on the order of one week and will keep the relevant parties informed. We thank the participants for their consideration as we work to return to normal operating conditions.”
Giles Parkinson is the founder and editor of Renew Economy, and is also the founder of One Step Off The Grid and founder and editor of The Driven, which focuses on EV. Giles has been a journalist for 40 years and is a former business and assistant editor of the Australian Financial Review.