Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20SUMMER EDITION ENGINE ROOM 15 At the time, the Premier Jay Weatherill confirmed two tornados destroyed three elements of critical infrastructure, which led to the power system protecting itself by shutting down. In fact, the state is now powered by just a mix of wind, solar and gas because in May 2016, Alinta’s Northern power station at Port Augusta closed, effectively removing coal power generation from South Australia’s electricity production equation. “On that night, our Rental team received dozens of calls till very late into the evening, predominately from electrical contractors, such as Nilsen, Recom and SJ Electric,” recalls Paul Walter, EPSA’s Regional Rental Manager – South East and Branch Manager Adelaide. “We mainly provided power generation with sizes ranging from 20kVA to 2000kVA, and had numerous generators rolled out on site all over Adelaide and regional areas, in particular providing power for supermarket chains including Foodland, Coles and Woolworths. We assisted by being reactive. Generators were double-checked in advance, cable sets were tested and made ready for quick deployment, and freight contractors were advised to have staff available.” “On a branch level, I worked with Matthew Burns, Shannon Seiboth and Rachel Hitchman to roll out our support and David Southwell and Phil Benton helped us with a 6MVA temporary power station for OZ Minerals’s underground mining needs. We were also very reliant on the responsiveness of our freight and electrical contractors.” Paul explains that EPSA is well set up to immediately respond to urgent calls during times of disaster. “We have an after-hours roster system in place, which has an escalation protocol if unanswered, ensuring all customer enquiries will be responded to. We also monitor the status of all our fleet to ensure equipment is repaired and made ready for rent in a timely fashion. And we utilise a contractor evaluation procedure, ensuring our freight companies and other crucial suppliers can support the 24/7 nature of our business.” “In a blackout scenario, such as what South Australia experienced, power generation is our priority, but across our after-hours service we are often delivering compressed air and temperature control products too,” adds Paul. “We have a strong reputation as being swift to respond to disasters and emergencies across Australia. We’ve worked with customers who were affected in several natural disasters over the years ranging from the 2015 Newcastle floods to Cyclone Yasi in Far North Queensland in 2011.” WE’LLALWAYSBE AVAILABLETORESPOND ANDHELPPROVIDEPOWER ANDEMERGENCYSUPPORT WHEREVERWECAN. PUTTING THE POWER BACKON FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES One Wednesday evening in September last year, South Australia and its 1.7 million residents were left without power following severe storms.