Hot El Niño summer brings ‘elevated’ risk of power blackouts to eastern Australia, operator warns

Australian Energy Market Operator says imminent and urgent investment' in energy is needed

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Eastern Australia requires imminent and urgent investment" in energy to bolster the reliability of the electricity grid, the Australian Energy Market Operator says, as it warns of the risk of outages in Victoria and South Australia this summer.

The challenges are detailed in an Aemo report, released on Thursday, which says the grid may come under strain even with 3.4 gigawatts of new generation and storage capacity added to the national electricity market compared with last summer.

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