CANBERRA: Australian energy regulators say they’re worried about possible gas supply shortages as of next year, with electricity blackouts likely to haunt the nation. Politicians have warned the problem is home-made.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said Thursday a projected decline in gas production could result in a shortfall of gas-powered electricity generation impacting New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The country’s gas producers had forecast annual production to decline by roughly 20 percent between 2017 and 2021. AEMO’s projection model showed electricity supply shortfalls of at least 80 gigawatt hours in 2018/19, “if there was no new development to support more gas-powered electricity generation.”
“If we use gas for electricity, the potential for shortfalls is in the domestic and the industrial supply,” AEMO Chief Operating Officer Mike Cleary told local broadcaster ABC. “If we use it in industrial and domestic fields, the shortfalls will be in electricity.” Cleary emphasized that strategic national planning of gas development had never been more critical, adding that in the short term energy supply shortages could be mitigated by an increase in coal-fired generation and renewable energy output.
