Mass blackouts hit Sydney

An electrical transmission equipment failure north of Sydney has triggered blackouts in a quarter of a million homes and businesses across four Australian states.

Equipment in the Hunter Valley, about 90 miles north of Sydney, failed at about 9.45pm (12.45am Irish time) yesterday, said Les Hosking, director of Nemmco, the company that operates the electrical grid across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria states.

The failure affected five major power generators, which then had to reduce their output, cutting off power to homes and businesses for up to 75 minutes. More than 200,000 Queensland homes were affected by power cuts, while industrial users in the three other states suffered blackouts.