Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-11 (section)

==== 11.3.10.1 Observed Impacts ====

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The energy sector is highly vulnerable to climate change ( ''high confidence'' ). Oil and gas systems are vulnerable to storms, fires, drought, floods, sea level rise (SLR), extreme heat and fires, which can damage infrastructure, slow production and add to operational costs ( [[#Smith--2013|Smith, 2013]] ). The electricity system is vulnerable to high temperatures reducing generator and network capacity and increasing failure rates and maintenance costs ( [[#AEMO--2020a|AEMO, 2020a]] ). Fires (including those sparked by electrical distribution lines) pose risks to assets. Smoke can cause electricity transmission to trip, and high winds reduce wind-energy capacity and threaten the integrity of transmission lines. Low rainfall reduces hydro-energy capacity and increases the demand for desalination energy. Higher sea level may affect some low-lying generation, distribution and transmission assets, and compound extreme weather events can cause outages ( [[#Vose--2014|Vose and Applequist, 2014]] ; [[#Lawrence--2016|Lawrence et al., 2016]] ; [[#AEMO--2020b|AEMO, 2020b]] ; [[#AEMO--2020a|AEMO, 2020a]] ; [[#ESCI--2021|ESCI, 2021]] ). For example, in September 2016, a major windstorm in South Australia damaged 23 transmission towers and cut power to over 900,000 households. In February 2017, the South Australian energy system failed to cope with a heatwave-related jump in demand, causing power cuts to 40,000 homes ( [[#Steffen--2017|Steffen et al., 2017]] ). In April 2018, a storm over Auckland, New Zealand left 182,000 properties without power ( [[#Bell--2018|Bell, 2018]] ). The 2019/2020 Australian heatwaves and fires caused widespread blackouts that disrupted communications, transport and emergency response capacity (Box 11.1).

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