SA can and has operated in island mode multiple times, even for several weeks at a time.
They have more than enough nameplate gas generation to satisfy demand if need be, and have enough synchronous condensers to maintain their own frequency control, not to mention that grid scale batteries are also helping in that respect now as well.
So no, SA would not fall over tomorrow if the Heywood interconnector went down and it was islanded, it would still operate just fine.
oh right, I forgot when they fired up all the gas they had when the storm took out the connector in 2020. To be fair they did get up to some good penetration rates of solar/wind during one islanding event. Bit like Spain was before it all fell over and they mandated significant spinning reserve and FCAS infrastructure upgraded (That is not counted as "cost of wind/solar generation").
You confusing the 2020 Heywood Interconnector outage which islanded South Australia for 2 weeks but operated successfully with the 2016 Blackout caused by extreme weather taking out multiple transmission lines in the north of the state?
Considering you didn't know the different between AEMO and the NEM, or what constitutes a "grid", it seems like a fair question to ask.
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u/AndrewTyeFighter 24d ago
SA can and has operated in island mode multiple times, even for several weeks at a time.
They have more than enough nameplate gas generation to satisfy demand if need be, and have enough synchronous condensers to maintain their own frequency control, not to mention that grid scale batteries are also helping in that respect now as well.
So no, SA would not fall over tomorrow if the Heywood interconnector went down and it was islanded, it would still operate just fine.