Large Power Outage in New Zealand
June 19th, 2024Update 0200NZST (UTC+12): Grid Up At The Moment
The grid is up for us at the moment. This is the latest status from my grid operator:
“As we manage the Transpower event there is a potential for current power outages continue with possibility of further outages in the morning as we mange load restrictions.”
I’m holding 80% charge on the Powerwall for backup until this is resolved. Good to go, no matter what.
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If updates aren’t happening on Cryptogon it means that we’re still dealing with a grid down situation here. Solar (at winter solstice with rain *groan*) plus Powerwall is enough for lights and refrigeration/freezer, but we will be conserving hard until we get a more definite ETA for restoration.
From years of experience, we know that our house is in the, “Fix Last” basket in terms of priority. Other areas will have backup and be restored long before us.
Transpower Issues Grid Emergency Notice, Nearly 100,000 Lose Power:
Transpower has issued a grid emergency notice and launched a “full investigation” into a mass power failure across the Northland region.
The lines operator is working to restore electricity to some areas in while others will continue to experience power cuts, potentially until noon tomorrow.
The sweeping failure has left nearly 100,000 customers without electricity.
Life in the new normal. The grid is collapsing; you aren’t!
Look at the bolt holes on the base of the pylon that collapsed at 39 seconds.
https://youtu.be/RvSctdbRiZg?si=fO2kfSEIC6qJlAkn&t=39
Looks like 16 gigantic nuts had been removed to me. That’s on two of the four plates. I can’t see what the other two plates touching the ground look like.
This is probably the result of some astonishing act of incompetence.
From the article liked in the post:
“Transpower has launched a full investigation into why the tower fell. [The tower was undergoing routine maintenance at the time.] The crew doing the work are safe and unharmed.”
Did routine maintenance involve removing the nuts that fasten the thing to the concrete???
On a side note — I am used to seeing only heavily-painted plastic faces on female internet broadcasts from the US and UK. How refreshing it is to see a normal, real-looking woman on this newscast! That she looks real makes the news seem real, as though it is what it looks like, not doctored infotainment. (Don’t tell the fake news people.)
All nuts removed on three of four baseplates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eCtlLLGNDA