Storm causes state-wide S. Australia blackout

SYDNEY: A state-wide blackout caused by a storm in South Australia yesterday triggered a debate over climate change and renewable energy.
The entire state of South Australia was plunged into darkness on Wednesday night after a massive storm damaged a power station and destroyed at least 20 transmission towers.
The power cut caused widespread traffic disruptions, especially in Adelaide, where power only returned on Thursday, and many rural areas were still without electricity.
Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull blamed the blackout on the state government's "extremely aggressive" and "completely unrealistic" renewable targets which disregarded energy security.
"We have to recognise that energy security is the key priority and targeting lower emissions is very important but it must be consistent with energy security," he said.
However, the state's premier Jay Weatherill said the outage was caused by extreme weather conditions and not because of dependence on renewable energy.
"We had winds which were so strong that when they hit power lines, they created such energy they were tearing the towers out of the ground," he said. – dpa