Bureau of Meteorology: 260km/h winds led to South Australia blackout

November 18, 2016
Issue 

The Bureau of Meteorology says wind gusts up to 260km/h from a “supercell” thunderstorm and multiple tornadoes were recorded on September 28, destroying transmission towers and causing the state-wide blackout in South Australia.

The report from the BoM – which mapped the passage of storms and seven tornadoes over critical network infrastructure – makes it clear that a freak weather event was responsible for the grid blackout.

But it also raises questions about the actions of the Australian Energy Market Operator, which has conceded that it took no action to protect energy security as the storms rolled across the state.

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