❓ Dr. Honey questions the Minister for Energy regarding the Kalgoorlie power blackout in January 2024 and the government-owned backup power plant. The Minister's response details the plant's activation and operational status during the outage.
AnsweredQoN 1807Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the power blackout that affected Kalgoorlie for several days from 17 January 2024, and I ask : (a) If there were problems with the government owned backup plant, what were the problems that precluded the use of the power plant for several days ; (b) Was the Minister aware of the existence of the government's (Synergy) gas powered backup plant, not the Parkston private power plant, at the time that Kalgoorlie was left without power for several days ; (c) Did the Minister ask why the government owned backup power plant wasn’t utilised with urgency, and if so, what was the agency response ; (d) Were there problems with the government owned backup plant that prevented its immediate use, and if so, what were those problems ; and (e) How much time elapsed after loss of power to Kalgoorlie before the government owned backup plant was supplying power to Kalgoorlie?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
27 November 2024
Responded by
Minister for Energy
Response time
7 days
(a) On 17 January 2024, the West Kalgoorlie Power Station (WKPS) started and subsequently disconnected in response to a frequency issue. The power plant was operational within 22 hours following the frequency issue.
(b) Yes.
(c) The WKPS was activated. This occurred in line with existing energisation protocols between Western Power, Synergy and the Australian Energy Market Operator.
(d) See the answer to (a).
(e) On 17 January 2024 the WKPS supplied power to Kalgoorlie from 7.50pm until around 10pm. On 18 January 2024 the WKPS was started at 7.50pm and began supplying power to Kalgoorlie at 11.21pm.
(b) Yes.
(c) The WKPS was activated. This occurred in line with existing energisation protocols between Western Power, Synergy and the Australian Energy Market Operator.
(d) See the answer to (a).
(e) On 17 January 2024 the WKPS supplied power to Kalgoorlie from 7.50pm until around 10pm. On 18 January 2024 the WKPS was started at 7.50pm and began supplying power to Kalgoorlie at 11.21pm.
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