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Last updated on June 24th, 2017 at 11:34 am
These graphs – from the National Electricity Market Management Company – seem to indicate an increased Australian power demand (green line) during Earth Hour (commencing at 20:00 in the second sections):
• Victoria
• Tasmania
(Via Ceni)
UPDATE. An engineer checks the data:
I have just looked at Qld, NSW, and Vic. Qld dropped the most power during Earth Hour, and it appears to be greater than normal. On average the drop is around 250 MW, in this case it is 400 MW… While Qld appears to have done well, NSW’s power usage actually went up for the first half-hour (7,777 MW to 7,862 MW), before dropping 112 MW… Vic remained more or less constant, with a drop of only 90 MW during the hour.
UPDATE I.5. Further from our engineer:
Based on the past, NSW should have dropped around 560 to 580 MW in that hour, and Vic should have been around 220-300 MW. Neither state even made average. It happens I guess (history shows some very big and very small numbers), but it will make those with the Green streak feel a little uneasy. I think the extreme ones will get quite a bit upset.
One of the things that jumps out to me, at least, is that the base load power is huge. Qld and Vic need 4.5 to 5 GW of power everyday, and NSW needs at least 6.5 GW. Imagine trying to replace that with solar and wind!
And in Canada: “Earth Hour had practically zero effect on the electricity demand in the Province of Ontario. While electricity use was barely below forecast, it was actually up slightly from the previous hour!”
UPDATE II. South Carlton before …
… during …
… and 40 minutes after Earth Hour. Spot the difference!
(Pics by Andrew R.)
