Concerns power supplies could fail, leaving Victoria in the dark

There are reports Victoria faces at least 72 days of possible blackouts in the next two years amid the closure of the Hazelwood coal fired power plant.

The Age newspaper is reporting it’s hoped imported power from New South Wales and Tasmania will make up for the shortfall.

While the Andrews Government has provided $25 million toward energy storage solutions such as batteries, hydro and solar thermal.

But the opposition’s David Southwick said that’s a long way off and taxpayer dollars should instead be used to keep Hazelwood open.

‘He should at the very least have an emergency plan to be able to restart Hazelwood if we need it,’ he said.

But Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio says supplies are safe.