This week’s heatwave contributed to a new record in Queensland with demand on Powerlink’s electricity transmission network reaching an all-time peak.
Powerlink Chief Executive Merryn York said the peak of 9357 megawatts (MW) was reached at 7pm.
“Today we’ve seen a new record demand driven by people escaping the heat and turning on air conditioning and other appliances to keep cool,” Ms York said.
“The previous record peak demand was 9097MW in February 2016.”
Ms York said Powerlink’s transmission network had reliably met the high demand without any issues.
“We plan and operate the network to allow for these hot conditions, particularly around this time of year,” she said.
“While it was a record peak demand, Powerlink’s transmission network performed well and provided Queenslanders the electricity they needed to try and beat the high temperatures.”
Peak demand records:
- 1 February 2016 – Total Queensland load – 9097MW
- 18 January 2017 – Total Queensland load – 9357MW
