SOUTH Australians have been told they can return to normal power use, after the threat of more blackouts during the evening peak period was avoided, in the wake of a fire at the Torrens Island power station that significantly reduced gas supply.

The Australian Energy Market Operator had advised people to keep their air conditioners at 26 degrees or above to avoid a load shedding event after the incident at the Torrens Island Power Station significantly reduced gas supply.

But Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis issued a statement at 7.30pm, saying AEMO had advised “that we have passed the peak demand period and there is no longer a risk of load-shedding”. “South Australians can resume normal energy consumption and run their air conditioners at their desired temperatures,” he said.

“We saw a marked drop in demand immediately after news bulletins aired requests from the national market operator to curb energy use where possible.

“I’d like to thank all South Australians for doing their bit to secure the system following the fire and the disruption it caused.”

Three units at Torrens Island were taken offline by a number of switchyard spot fires, as well as a gas turbine at Pelican Point which uses the same switchyard.

AGL crews had extinguished the spot fires with powder fire extinguishers by the time MFS crews arrived at the site at about 4pm on Friday.

Just been advised a "violent" explosion of a voltage transformer was the cause of the fire & subsequent loss of generation on #TorrensIsland — Tom Koutsantonis (@TKoutsantonisMP) March 3, 2017

Earlier, Mr Koutsantonis said AEMO had ordered other generation sources to turn on to “meet the drop in supply and manage risk within the system”.

“AEMO has requested as a precautionary measure to help avoid potential load-shedding that people conserve electricity and run air conditioners at a higher temperature,” he said.

It is understood the ageing power station’s other five units are continuing to operate while crews assess the extent of the damage.

AGL issued a statement this evening saying it was “in the process of returning three A station units to service which were previously dispatched off line”.

“This afternoon, an equipment malfunction in an Electranet switchyard adjacent to AGL Torrens Island Power Station B, caused three out of four B station units to trip. AGL is currently assessing if there is damage to the three tripped units and will bring them back to service when safe to do so. One B station unit continues to run at full capacity and was not impacted by the incident,” the statement said.

“The cause of the incident is unknown. It created a small grass fire which was quickly contained. No one was injured.

Pelican Point is back online using its secondary mothballed unit, while the first unit that tripped is restored.

Businesses in the city reported a power flicker about 3.45pm.

It is not clear whether the two events are related.