March 17, 2020
Queensland’s publicly owned power and water businesses have extensive measures in place to ensure ongoing power and bulk water supplies during the coronavirus emergency, the State Government assured citizens on Tuesday.
Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham told Parliament that energy and water government businesses were “distancing key personnel and had stockpiled critical supplies”.
“Just as State-owned power and water assets are ready for Queensland’s severe weather events, they are ready for the inevitable impact of coronavirus,” he said.
“I can assure Queenslanders that should the virus spread, and if staff are taken offline, well-rehearsed contingency procedures will ensure ongoing essential services.”
Dr Lynham said the measures included:
- Stockpiling coal and gas.
- Critical staff, such as control room crew, increasingly being segregated to reduce cross-infection
- Possible sharing of critical staff
- Assessing scheduled outages for possible rescheduling.
“Energex has already split its around-the-clock control room crews to work from four venues rather than one,” he said.
“Energex and Ergon have around 100 mobile diesel generators strategically located around the State on standby ready to be transported wherever needed.
“Seqwater and Sunwater have emergency arrangements with local governments and urban water utilities to co-ordinate their response to any disruption to water supply.
“Alternative power arrangements are in place for water treatment plants, and to transport water crews quickly around the State.”
