Changes have been made to the guidelines used to identify major events that impact the security of the power system and when investigation is required, following the release of a final report from the Australian Energy Market Commission Reliability Panel (AEMC Panel) today. 

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) uses the guidelines to determine when an incident is deemed serious enough to be considered a ‘reviewable operating incident’ and is required to investigate and publicly report on such incidents.

The final report, published by the AEMC Reliability Panel, completes the review of the guidelines which was initiated following a letter AEMO sent to the Panel in March 2022. 

The Reliability Panel has made the following four changes suggested by AEMO:

• exclusion of non-credible contingency events where successful auto-reclose occurred and the system remained in a secure operating state
• exclusion of events where a transmission line trips at one end only or a single circuit breaker trips and where the system remained in a secure operating state
• exclusion of events where under-frequency load-shedding (UFLS) schemes operated correctly and only tripped contracted load 
• amendment to guideline section 6(c) on distribution system incidents, and the definition of multiple contingency events, to update and clarify a number of requirements.

Further changes have also been made to the guideline to:

• clarify reporting requirements on major supply disruptions in Queensland that reflect recent changes to the Queensland System Restart Ancillary Services (SRAS) subnetworks
• clarify reporting requirements in relation to  recent changes made through ‘indistinct events’ rule. This rule enables AEMO to manage events that can impact multiple generators or transmission lines in an unpredictable and uncertain manner, such as major storms, fires or cyberattacks.

The Reliability Panel has also recommended additional reviews of the guidelines in the coming years, as the system continues to change and new challenges with security emerge.

The amended guidelines will be effective from Thursday 29 September 2022. All reviewable operating incidents from this date will be identified according to the new guidelines.

Media: Jessica Rich - 0459 918 964 - media@aemc.gov.au 

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