Extreme heat and tight power supply caused two hours power outage at Alcoa's Portland aluminium smelter
As the temperature soared above 40 degrees, it triggered power outages on Australia's strained grid on Friday. Demand for air-conditioning soared and coal-fired generators struggled to meet the surge in consumption leading to power shortage.
To manage the power shortage, Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) cut power to Alcoa Corp's Portland aluminium smelter, the biggest power consumer in the state of Victoria for two hours on Thursday and Friday.
Wholesale power rates in Victoria hit the market cap of A$14,500 ($10,298) per megawatt hour (MWh) before midday on Friday, earlier than expected, then dropped to A$300.
AEMO Chief Executive Audrey Zibelman said that despite the additional power from the states of Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia, they were short of supply and they might have to do more power cuts.
The power cut to Alcoa on Thursday came without any notice because of unexpectedly high temperatures and surge in demand. "Alcoa will not be compensated for the curtailment," Alcoa spokeswoman Jodie Read said.
However, Friday's cut to Alcoa will be under the reserve agreement with its power supplier.
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