AEMO says it has not suspended project commissioning but testing and resources limited amid crisis

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AEMO has adjusted the schedules for projects in commissioning, saying it needs to “limit tests that may present a system security risk under the current strained system conditions” while it prioritises resources to manual dispatching. The delays are currently by about a week, and includes projects in all generation types from renewable wind and solar to fossil generation like gas projects.

It is adamant though that commissioning activities have not, in fact, been suspended and it is continuing to progress over 500 MW of projects.

Daniel Westerman became the CEO of the Australian Energy Market Operator in May 2021

AEMO/CEDA

A spokesperson for AEMO clarified the situation to pv magazine Australia this morning, saying it is facing unprecedented operational challenges to maintain a reliable and secure electricity supply, including the need to manually dispatch large volumes of generation in the past week.

This situation, which is playing out in the National Electricity Market operating in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, was described as “unprecedented” by the operator, which last week suspended the spot market in a drastic measure to bring the crisis under control.

“While we have continued to progress commissioning activities for more than 500 megawatts of plant over the last week, we have adjusted schedules for some plant[s],” an AEMO spokesperson told pv magazine Australia.

“We expect these adjustments to be in the order of a week and will keep relevant parties informed.”

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