Queensland is predicted to reach a new record for electricity demand this evening as the state’s heatwave intensifies.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has forecast peak demand to be up to 10,500 megawatts from about 5:30pm today.
That is 415 megawatts more than the old peak, set in March last year.
This morning, AEMO issued lack of reserve notifications, calling for electricity market participants to make all power generation available from 5:30pm to 8:30pm.
"While there is sufficient electricity supply to meet demand, AEMO is working with the Queensland government and network businesses to improve the supply-demand balance where possible," an AEMO spokesperson said.
Shortly after noon the apparent temperature was 39 degrees Celsius in Archerfield, 38.6C in Greenbank, 37.7C in Beerburrum and 37C in Brisbane.
Brisbane surpassed its forecast maximum of 35C today, hitting 35.4C at 11:40am. Temperatures hit just over 30C on the Gold and Sunshine coasts.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior meteorologist Harry Clark said he does not expect the heat to ease until late Saturday or early Sunday.
"We are looking at temperatures returning to average from Monday and really staying there for the foreseeable future still very muggy and humid however," Mr Clarke said.
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said despite the intense heat the system would be "tight", but manageable.
"We've done scenario testing exactly for a day like [today] and our system is well prepared," Mr de Brenni said.
"We think we can manage it. We're confident that we can manage it.
"I'm advised that we have enough supply to make sure the lights stay on and that's primarily due to our decision to maintain public ownership of our energy system."
Planned outages
Power Link Queensland chief executive Paul Simshauser said the network could handle the possible record demand, but "it's looking tight".
"The system's looking good, we've got adequate generating capacity at this point in time," he said.
"All the reserves will get a run today, so it will be tight but at this stage we're not anticipating any disruptions on the supply side."
Energex said some planned power outages will go ahead across south-east Queensland today.
Mr Simshauser said while localised outages may occur, they would be due to other factors.
"Our whole industry is geared around these stress event days and also disaster events as well, we spend all year prepping for these very moments and we've got a few tricks up our sleeve that we put to good use on days like today."
He said the last time we saw demand of this nature was last February when a record demand of 10,058 MW was recorded.
More than 800 homes across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and Gympie have been notified that they will lose power as providers work to secure supply.
The outages were pre-planned to allow crews to conduct critical maintenance.
Emma Oliveri from Energex told ABC Radio Brisbane the work was critical to ensure the safety of the network, but crews would work as quickly as possible.
"Our crews appreciate that it's hot and humid for our customers, they're out there in those conditions working to keep the network safe and reliable."
Ms Oliveri urged impacted customers to try to stay cool.
"If you can arrange to go out for a few hours, go to an air-conditioned shop, library, head to the pool, go and stay with a friend or a relative, that's the best advice we can give to those people who don't want to stay at home when there's no power on," she said.
Customers who are not impacted by power outages can help keep the system running efficiently, especially between the hours of 4pm and 8pm when demand is expected to peak.
How long will the heatwave last?
Much of Queensland's east coast has been in the grips of a low-intensity heatwave this week, but there are pockets where it is severe.
Bundaberg, Gladstone, Gympie, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Mackay, Maroochydore, Maryborough, Yeppoon and Brisbane will be the worst affected areas.
Mr Clark said the heatwave would last until late Saturday or early Sunday, when a south-easterly change sweeps across the south-east.
It will finally flush out the very warm and humid air mass that has been building over the south-east over the past few weeks.
Mr Clark said there would not be a "sharp drop in the temperature" but a return to February averages.
He said to expect a minimum of around 20C and a maximum around 30C for south-east Queensland.
"It's not going to be a classic, cool change unfortunately, but a more gradual return to normal," he said.
Heat 'more akin to places like Cairns'
Temperatures have been hovering three-to-five degrees above average during the heatwave, but the humidity has exacerbated the situation.
The dew point, which measures the level of moisture in the air, was expected to climb to 24C, up from 22.6C yesterday.
"That's more akin to what we typically see in places like Cairns or Darwin in the middle of the wet season," he said.
"Very muggy. Very tropical."
Mr Clark said there will be little relief overnight.
Minimums will not drop much below 25C, but it would feel more like 29C or 30C for much of the night.
"So we don't really get that chance for the human body to expel that heat and cool down overnight either," he said.
"The last few months we haven't really seen much in the way of warm temperatures, so certainly this does come as a bit of a shock to the system for many people."
