Coal unit failure a threat to Victorian energy security this summer

The head of Australia’s energy market operator said threats to the reliability of the electricity grid in Victoria were its main concern following AGL’s announcement that one of four generating units at the Loy Yang A power station will be out of action for seven months.

AGL says one generating unit at Loy Yang A
 will be out for repairs until December.

Failures and planned outages at multiple coal and gas-fired units in the Latrobe Valley played havoc with Victoria’s energy grid last summer, forcing the energy market operator to cut the power to hundreds of thousands of customers during two days of extreme heat in late January.AEMO chief executive Audrey Zibelman said the operator was working with AGL and the rest of the industry on plans to cover the loss of generating power at Loy Yang A, which provides about 30 per cent of Victoria’s electricity capacity.

Read the story from The Age by Adam Carey - “Coal unit failure a threat to Victorian energy security this summer.”

Recovery is a work in progress on the Texas coastline

PORT ARANSAS, TEX. — Islander souvenir shop has a new roof, inner walls replaced and a load of stuffed dolphins, key chains and shot glasses fresh off the truck. But when it reopened on the first Saturday of spring break, seven months after Hurricane Harvey’s landfall nearby, half the store was still cordoned off and empty.

Pam Luebke works to clean the floors at Island Sports,
a tourist shop in Port Aransas. The tourist shop recently
 opened after completing repairs from Hurricane Harvey.

Workers planned to get back on their hands and knees to scrape mud off more of the concrete floor in the coming weeks, but Islander was one of the lucky businesses. More than half are still closed. Windows blown out. Debris piled out front. “No trespassing” signs posted.

Port Aransas, a beach town on a barrier island near the middle of the Texas coast, is almost entirely dependent on tourism. This month accounts for 20 percent of the $400 million it brings in every year from visitors. Half of the city’s income comes in between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Read The Washington Post story by Mary Beth Gahan - “Recovery is a work in progress on the Texas coastline.”