The Reliability Panel has published a draft determination for its Review of the System Restart Standard, including proposed changes to the Standard and draft recommendations for future work to enhance system restart preparedness through the energy transition.
The draft determination and draft standard follow the Australian Energy Market Operator’s reports of growing challenges in securing adequate System Restart Ancillary Services (SRAS) across the National Electricity Market (NEM).
Chair of the Reliability Panel, Rainer Korte, said SRAS plays a vital role in helping to re-energise the power system in the unlikely event of a major supply disruption or 'black system event'.
“AEMO uses SRAS to effectively jump-start the power system by progressively providing power to other generators, and this, in turn, restores supply to consumers,” Mr Korte said.
“The System Restart Standard (SRS) provides guidance to help AEMO determine how much SRAS is needed.
“Future work is also going to be critical to enhance system restart preparedness and support the resilience of the electricity system as coal generation units continue to come to the end of their life and renewable generation, batteries and other resources come online.”
The Reliability Panel is proposing changes to the draft standard that include allowing AEMO to procure SRAS to:
- form one or more restoration islands in an electrical subnetwork within two hours
- restore supply in each electrical subnetwork to be able to meet 50 per cent of forecast average annual underlying demand within eight hours.
Mr Korte said the proposed changes would provide AEMO greater flexibility to adapt to, and coordinate SRAS effectively, to meet the changing needs of the power system.
“These changes address recommendations included in AEMO’s System Restart Technical Advice, published in June,” Mr Korte said.
“They take into account economic analysis which found that there is significant value in investing in improved system restoration capability for the NEM to protect against the potential impact of a rare event of prolonged disruption to electricity supply.
“The recommendations also take into consideration the special needs of sensitive loads, such as aluminium smelters, whose production processes may be significantly impacted during major supply disruptions.”
The Reliability Panel will hold an online forum on 22 September 2025 for stakeholders to discuss the content of this Draft Determination. Register here
Submissions in response to the draft determination close 16 October 2025.
Media: Jessica Rich, 0459 918 964, media@aemc.gov.au