Power Infrastructure

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:42): My question is to the Premier. Why did it take so long for the power system to be reset yesterday?

Mr Duluk: Premier Koutsantonis.

The SPEAKER: The member for Davenport will leave the chamber for the remainder of question time.

The honourable member for Davenport having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:42): First and foremost, there is a restoration plan in place in every state, and restoration plans are put in place because they are designed by technical experts. They are not designed by politicians, and the reason they are not designed by politicians is because you see a level of, I suppose, partisanship come out through these events. The important thing about a system black restoration is that it is done in a sequential, methodical way designed to make sure that we do no harm to the grid.

The theory that there wasn't enough thermal generation in place to bring the system black back on is false. I have directly asked Mr Tony Marxsen, the chair of the Australian Energy Market Operator, that, if there was more thermal generation in South Australia, could system black have been restored sooner? And he said to me, no—unequivocally. I said, 'Do you need to take advice on that?' He said no. That statement is not accurate.

The time it takes is the time it takes, depending on a couple of matters. One is the damage done to the transmission lines. Once you understand the damage done to the transmission lines, you understand exactly how to bring power on. It is also important to note that generators had suffered damage through lightning strike, and some generators weren't available. The time taken to bring on—return back power, again, I will quote the experts:

…to re-start almost the entire state’s electricity supply 'from black' within hours was unprecedented…

These events have occurred in other countries, First World countries like the United States and Canada, where there was a system black across the Canadian and US borders, in the north-east of the country. It took longer there to restore 50 million customers to the grid, where they had not only coal-fired generation and gas-fired generation but nuclear generation.

This is not a question of generation. This is a question of frequency and sequencing back on generation. The time it took was quite frankly the fastest they possibly could under the circumstances. I have to say that I congratulate AEMO. I think they did an exceptional job.