Sydney asks residents to reduce electricity consumption to avoid blackouts
Sydney residents are urged to conserve electricity as much as possible in the evening hours to avoid blackouts, a day after Australia suspended its immediate market access system due to unplanned outages at aging coal-fired utilities.
The Australian Energy Market Authority said it was too early to say when the market would return to normal operations, but added that electricity reserves had improved in the state of New South Wales.
Climate Change and Energy Secretary Chris Bowen called on state households to reduce electricity consumption without sacrificing basic needs such as heating.
"We are confident that the blackout can be avoided," he told a televised news conference in Canberra.
"If you are given a choice about when certain devices are turned on, do not turn them on from 6 to 8 (in the evening)," he added.
The stress is more likely in the evening when electricity production from wind and solar plants drops while people return home from work and turn on their electrical appliances.
Australia has never suspended its immediate market access to electricity, the latest harsh step in the face of an energy crisis that began in May.
Currently, more than a quarter of the country's electricity production using coal has stopped.
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