We keep track of breakdowns at the National Electricity Market’s fossil fuel powered stations.

Reliability Watch is monitoring breakdowns at fossil fuel powered stations across the National Electricity Market. As these stations get older, they are more likely to break down, especially in hot weather, when demand is usually high. We need to keep a close eye on our electricity system’s reliability, because what we can measure, we can improve.

Statewide availability at a glance: Nov 2024six months to 30 Nov 2025

Outline map of Queensland

Queensland

24.5%
Avg. unavailable capacity
44 / 180
Equivalent offline days
Outline map of New South Wales

New South Wales

24.7%
Avg. unavailable capacity
45 / 180
Equivalent offline days
Outline map of Victoria

Victoria

22.5%
Avg. unavailable capacity
41 / 180
Equivalent offline days

Failures and breakdowns

We use data from the Australian Energy Market Operator to watch for breakdowns – when a fossil fuel powered station suddenly stops generating electricity.

Callide C
:
CPP_3

QLD
Generation lost
406
 MW
Generation unavailable
466
 MW

Callide C
:
CPP_4

QLD
Generation lost
404
 MW
Generation unavailable
466
 MW

Loy Yang A
:
LYA2

VIC
Generation lost
383
 MW
Generation unavailable
530
 MW

Bayswater
:
BW04

NSW
Generation lost
333
 MW
Generation unavailable
685
 MW
Source: OpenNEM

Reliability key to keeping the energy transition on track

Reliability Watch monitors the National Electricity Market’s fossil fuel power plants for breakdowns. We started with summer 2024 - 2025 (October - March) because fossil fuel powered stations are more likely to breakdown in hot weather, when demand is also likely to be high.

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Coal power station cooling towers.

New Analysis: Coal Broke Down 128 Times Over Summer Period

A new analysis by Reliability Watch shows Australia’s ageing coal power stations broke down a staggering 128 times over the summer period, eight times more than the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) was expecting.
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Latest major breakdown: Callide C3 4/04/2025

On Friday April 3, Callide C3 broke down at 3am. It was operating at close to full capacity when an incident, variously described as a “pressure spike” by operator CS Energy and an explosion by the union, caused it to suddenly drop offline.
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Keeping coal online is a risk we can’t afford

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that keeping coal fired power stations online would force more reliance on expensive gas as they become more unreliable.
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