SYDNEY /Reuters – A fire that erupted at a New South Wales power plant on Saturday will not impact electricity supply, Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), said Sunday. This was in response to the growing energy crisis in Australia’s east.

The supply has been squeezed since May in heavily populated eastern regions. 25% of the 23,000 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired power plants were shut down for maintenance and unplanned outages. This has only been made worse by the increasing global coal prices and disruptions to supply.

The AEMO is responsible for managing electricity and gas markets across the nation. On Friday, the AEMO stated there was sufficient electricity supply to cover the forecasted demand through the weekend. This eases any immediate concerns about possible blackouts along the east coast.

The agency posted late Saturday on Twitter (NYSE 🙂 that it knew of a substation fire at Tallawarra’s power station at Yallah. It is a suburb in Wollongong about 80km (50 miles south) of Sydney. However, they said it wasn’t expected the fire to cause further damage.

“We wish to reassure customers (New South Wales), that this will have no impact on the electricity supply,” AEMO declared.

According to fire officials, the fire was caused by a mechanical problem in a redundant transformer. More than 60 firefighters worked together to put it out of control.

News website Nine reported that more than 10,000 litres (or 2,600 gallons!) of oil were set on fire. It is expected to take many days to put out the flames.

Matt Kean, Treasurer of New South Wales said that conditions were good in the energy markets after another generator was brought back on Saturday.

Kean stated that there is enough supply to satisfy demand in the foreseeable future. This was the advice from the AEMO. Kean spoke to reporters in Sydney Sunday.

The AEMO lifted the suspension of electricity supply in the country on Wednesday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed the unprecedented move, stating that it was necessary to reduce “gaming”.

According to the Australian Energy Council, 1,900 MW have been brought back online by coal-fired generators since that time, decreasing blackout risks.