The NT's claim to be home to one of the world's leading solar energy resources lost some of its shine yesterday.
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All because of a cloud.
One of the many factors which caused the nine hour blackout in Alice Springs in October was such a cloud.
"The output of Uterne solar station was relatively constant at around 3.3 MW until 1:43 PM. At 1:43
PM a cloud passed over the station and station output became highly variable with reductions in
output to as low as 0.5 MW," the report found.
In the blink of an eye, the almost four megawatts of power supplied from the Uterne Solar Farm into the local grid became a fraction of that.
Combined with the many folks who happily connect their roof-top solar to the grid in return for free power and even power credits, the cloud caught local power providers napping.
So much so that investigators have recommended power companies in this part of the world buy a cloud forecasting service so they can at least see the power dip coming.
That is if we continue to rely ever more heavily on solar for baseload power.
The NT Government gave the Utilities Commission the job of finding what went wrong that day in Alice Springs.
When you combined 40 degree temperatures with power cuts of eight hours, it makes for hot under the collar voters in central Australia.
The investigators made it clear solar wasn't solely to blame.
Even the battery hooked up the network did what it could but was only designed to be used for seconds, not hours.
Trying to untangle the jargon used by the investigators it is clear there was a stuff up.
The transfer of the baseload power from the Ron Goodin Power Station to the new Owen Springs Power Station was going too fast with far too little co-ordination.
But the Alice Springs blackout has also highlighted out future trust in solar might be shortsighted.
Again in its report, the Utilities Commission said "the sudden unforeseen (by those managing the system) reduction in solar generation due to cloud which precipitated the system black is not considered a root cause of the system black, as a power system should be designed as far as practical to be sufficiently robust to withstand this"
"However, it is further evidence that the current systems (including Darwin/Katherine and Tennant Creek) may not be agile and robust enough to support an early transition towards the Territory Governments 50 per cent renewables by 2030 target."
The commission considers a measured approach to "achieving the 50 per cent renewables target is necessary, to allow for the transition to be appropriately considered, coordinated and managed, while keeping cost increases to a minimum consistent with maintaining system security".
The Territory only has solar, there are no wind turbines or tidal generators.
For a long time we have congratulated each other of having so much sun, but the NT also has long periods where there is cloud, cloud in the wet season can cover the sun for days.
Katherine's much larger solar farm also has a battery but again only for short bursts to stabilise the line not for baseload, it will; be feedings its power to Darwin.
Katherine has clouds too.
The investigation has exposed deep systemic problems in the NTs energy agencies, according to the Environment Centre NT.
These blackouts were avoidable and cloud cover is a "normal event and any well-designed energy system using existing technology has the capacity to handle changing weather", the group said.
"Solar energy is not to blame here. Rather, there is a deeply rooted systemic and cultural problem in NT's energy agencies to address the vital upgrade to changing technology and execute the necessary steps for a smooth transition.
The report also highlights the governments failure to implement its own report recommendations, a centre spokeswoman said.
"Had an Independent Implementation Agency been established, as noted in the reports first set of recommendations, all of these problems could have been avoided. This independent agency would have coordinated the actions required to achieve the Territory's 50 per cent renewable energy target, working in partnership with agencies and government owned corporations.
"NT's energy agencies and the government have a choice here: they can get on with the work entailed in an upgrade, or continue to bury their heads in the sand.
"This won't stop NT households and businesses continue to install solar PV. And unless this is acknowledged in work to stablise the grid, we may begin to see more communities choose to go off the grid. And while other regions around Australia and the world are already enjoying the benefits from an upgrade to cheap, reliable and secure renewable energy, the NT risks being left behind.
"While a transition is exactly that, it is incremental, its important to apportion blame correctly. The NT energy grid should be modern and agile and the technology exists to bring online more renewable energy generation.
"Had the urgent work begun years ago as outlined in the Roadmap to Renewables, we would have avoided these blackouts. New solar generation is just one of many new changes in conditions, that can also include changes in supply and demand, and exposes an ageing energy system that has failed to keep pace with the times."
Ms Wakefield said the worldwide transition to cheap, clean, renewable energy presents incredible economic opportunities for the NT.
"The Territory Government understands this and that's why we set a 50% renewables by 2030 target and supporting the $20bn SunCable project, which will create thousands of local jobs.
"Renewables did not cause the system black event. The system should have been able to withstand the generation changes as outlined in the Utilities Commission report.
"The failures are technical, complex and involve both equipment failure and human error. We have acted swiftly and decisively to ensure that similar incidents don't occur again.
"Transition to renewables will continue to be driven by our principles of reliable, secure and at least cost to Territorians. I recently announced the creation of the Office of Sustainable Energy to consolidate energy policy efforts across Government.
"We have enormous potential in the Territory to become an energy superpower and this includes the development of hydrogen, which will produce low or zero emissions."
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