Investigating the correlation between extreme temperature events and the increasing frequency of power outages in the Northern Territory of Australia

Abstract

It has been claimed that the grid of the Northern Territory of Australia suffers from more frequent blackouts because of the increasing occurrence of extreme events. However, the temperature oscillations have not changed since the time measurements started to be collected at the end of 1800. The time series of the monthly maximum and highest temperatures for the two locations of the Northern Territory of Australia which are spanning 140 years shows temperature extremes are not worsening, being the records detrended. The increasing power outages have many other causes. Some are natural such as cyclones, winds, or lightning. Others are human such as equipment failure, animal or human interference, overload, and maintenance or upgrade. One reason for the more frequent power outages is the reduced resilience of the grid forced to accept a growing share of non-dispatchable, intermittent, and irregular solar energy without appropriate energy storage. Their occurrence may be lessened by improving the resilience of the grid by providing adequate energy storage. The study contributes to the understanding of the complex factors influencing power outages and highlights the importance of resilient grid infrastructure.