Australia’s most famous goldfield has been under siege this week from Mother Nature after severe storms caused widespread outages to the Kalgoorlie-Boulder water supply, fuel stations, internet connections and communications services.
An intense storm tore down trees and ripped off roofs while causing major damage to power towers.
Picture supplied by Western Power.
"The 220-kilovolt transmission line that supplies Kalgoorlie has sustained significant damage from the storm front that moved through the region [Wednesday[ evening," a Western Power spokesperson said.
There are about 1,600 people in Western Australia's Goldfields, which is some 600 kilometres east of Perth, but many in the wider region continue to be without power.
Residents were warned by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) on Thursday that they could be without power for up to seven days.
Back up generators fail
Making matters worse was the failure of key back-up generators that are now back online.
"It's by no means a permanent fix," Western Power spokesman Zane Christmas said. "And to be honest, it's not ideal in terms of supplying the overall load.
"But from a technical perspective, while we work at restoring that damaged power line, it's maybe the best that we can come up with right now."
While traffic lights are back on, the city and nearby Coolgardie have no fuel.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Glenn Wilson said the city would be working with authorities to prevent a repeat of the blackout.
"I'm not sure on the infrastructure that's in place, but what I will be seeking following debriefing with the agencies is a bit more of a clearer understanding of the age of the infrastructure, the service and the maintenance of the infrastructure and it's capability of our city as we continue to grow," he said.
Western Power has an alternative generation supply (two gas turbine generators) arrangement at the West Kalgoorlie Terminal with Synergy, however they are out of service due to technical issues.
The company said full restoration would take "a number of days".
Opposition Energy spokesman Steve Thomas called for more energy security in the region.
"The state government was aware two years ago in 2022, with the last round of blackouts, that there was a problem with the backup system," he said.
"Two years later, and two ministers later, we still haven't got a solution."
Thomas urged the government to use some of the budget surplus to fix the issue.
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