Here is an extract from todays West Australian. Take note those who think that there will be no market for the Gas that Wicher may produce.
**snip** Power station crash hits 125,000
By Luke Morfesse and Simon Penn
THE parlous state of WA's electricity supply was highlighted again yesterday when the Collie power station crashed, cutting power to 125,000 homes and businesses in the metropolitan area and key regional centres.
Late yesterday, Western Power was still unable to explain the cause of the 2½-hour blackout, which hit at 1pm and also cut traffic lights throughout the suburbs.
The State Opposition said the shutdown raised more questions about Western Power's announcement on Monday that it may defer plans for another major generator in the South-West.
The utility said it would not call for final tenders for a $350 million power plant until the end of the year - more than six months later than many industry observers had expected.
It claimed it could extend the life of its oldest generators while it reviewed plans for the baseload power station.
Yesterday's breakdown came just two months after Western Power warned of rolling blackouts after the crash of one of its key coal-fired generators and a two-week maintenance shutdown on the Dampier-Bunbury gas pipeline, which feeds many of its other stations.
It narrowly managed to avoid widespread blackouts by cranking up production at its coal-fired stations.
But the situation highlighted the extent to which WA's electricity supplies have been stretched by growing demand, ageing equipment and a heavy dependence on the Dampier-to-Bunbury gas pipeline.
Opposition energy spokesman John Day also said the blackout was a possible sign of things to come if the Gallop Government proceeded with its plan to break up Western Power.
"It shows how delicate the whole system is . . . you don't need much to go wrong for a lot of people to be affected and we've seen that overseas on the east coast of America recently and in London," he said.
"It emphasises how delicate the provision of electricity supplies are and how it needs to be very carefully managed. There will be a loss of that ability if the Government goes down the path it is planning to."
The Collie station was still down last night as Western Power worked to discover the cause of the failure.
Back-up gas turbines at Pinjar were brought on line gradually during the afternoon and full power was restored by 3.30pm.
A Western Power spokesman said the gas turbines would run indefinitely and would cope with demand.
Power supplies to Royal Perth Hospital and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital were not affected. Police, fire and ambulance services did not report any significant difficulties.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA director of industry policy Bill Sashegyi said the cuts were too short to have any major effect on industry.
He said the introduction of an independent regulatory authority under proposed changes to Western Power had been shown in the Eastern States to reduce the occurrence of such interruptions.
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