South Australia's emergency diesel generators were fired up for the first time during the state's record-breaking Thursday heat - but the state government says the move was for Victoria's benefit.
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The generators were switched on shortly after 5.30pm at the direction of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
State energy minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said South Australia had enough energy to meet demand, despite more than 25,000 customers experiencing blackouts on Thursday night.
"There was no forced load-shedding anywhere in South Australia yesterday," he told reporters on Friday.
"I do acknowledge that many households went without electricity yesterday because of failures of some of SA Power Networks' equipment."
Instead, Mr van Holst Pellekaan said the generators were used to prop up power supplies in Victoria, where temperatures in Melbourne reached 40C.
"Demand in Victoria was much higher than forecast and two Victorian generators fell over," he said.
"Victoria was in a diabolical situation - at that point in time AEMO decided to use the generators."
He said the generators would be available again on Friday, with temperatures expected to reach 44C in the Victorian capital.
The emergency generators, installed by the former Labor government ahead of last summer, were designed to prevent load shedding blackouts.
But Mr van Holst Pellekaan last year pledged to lease the turbines to private operators, enabling them to contribute to the grid.
Opposition energy spokesman Tom Koutsantonis said the diesel generators proved their worth on Thursday, and urged the government to reconsider.
"Don't sell these generators, these generators should remain in public hands for the public good," he said.
"Don't trust the government when they say you can sell power assets and still maintain control - that's simply not the case."
A cool change brought much-needed relief to Adelaide on Friday, after hot weather records tumbled under sweltering conditions across South Australia.
The CBD recorded Australia's hottest capital city temperature when it reached 46.6C at 3.36pm on Thursday.
The reading was half-a-degree higher than its previous record of 46.1C set in January, 1939.
Australian Associated Press
