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Queensland hit a new record for energy demand on Wednesday night, the day after Victoria hit the same milestone.
Much of eastern Australia has recorded colder-than-average temperatures this week, with .
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said Queensland “hit a new winter maximum operational demand record” of 8,728 megawatts.
This was up 12 megawatts from the previous record set on 4 July 2022.
Parts of the state’s Scenic Rim south of Brisbane were dusted with snow for the first time in nearly a decade on Wednesday, as cold temperatures and strong winds affected the state’s south.
On Tuesday, Brisbane experienced its coldest morning in more than a year, with temperatures reaching 7.4C just before 6am.
Queensland’s overall record for maximum demand was set on 22 January as extreme temperatures and humidity pushed electricity demand from the grid to a high of 11,005 megawatts at 5pm.
On Tuesday, Victoria broke a 17-year record for maximum winter demand as the state shivered through temperatures as much as six degrees below average for this time of year.
AEMO recorded a demand of 8,612 megawatts at 6pm on Monday, up more than 250 megawatts from the previous record set in July 2007.
On Wednesday, NSW reached a new high of energy generated by wind, according to National Energy Market analysts.
Wind generation in NSW reached 2,293 megawatts just after midnight, beating the record set in April.
The AEMO had indicated the state might beat the demand record again on Wednesday but it missed the mark.
Earlier this month, AEMO issued a warning about gas supply levels in the eastern states in the coming months.
The market operator said that and demand trends in NSW, Victoria and South Australia indicate there is “the potential for gas supply shortfalls due to the depletion of southern storage inventories”.
AEMO noted that the threat of gas shortfalls, driven by a rise in demand for gas due to recent cold weather and outages at a gas plant in Victoria, will likely continue until 30 September.