CANBERRA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Australia's east coast is facing a high risk of blackouts in the coming summer, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) warned.
In Victoria state, unplanned power outages at the Loy Yang and Mortlake power stations could result in up to 1.3 million households being left without power, according to the AEMO statement on Thursday.
AEMO released its 2019 Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO), forecasting tight supply-demand conditions in east coast states for the summer of 2019-20.
It identified the declining reliability of coal and gas-powered generators for the vulnerability, calling for the creation of an electricity supply reserve.
Beyond 2020, it forecast that the situation will improve only slightly with the 2022 closure of the Liddell Power Station in New South Wales (NSW) expected to culminate in an increased unserved energy level in 2023-24.
Unserved energy is the amount of electricity demanded by customers that cannot be supplied by the national electricity market.
Audrey Zibelman, chief executive officer of AEMO, said that the report indicated the need for immediate action to deliver affordable and reliable electricity.
"We need to harness all the resources we have in the system, together with the opportunities that come with the technological advances occurring in the industry to meet current and future energy demands at the lowest cost possible," Zibelman said.
