The Contagion of Scarcity
Guest author, Josh Stabler of Energy Edge, provides a look into the ‘contagion of scarcity’ events impacting the market since mid-May 2021.
Seasonal Record of Events in the Market
Collections of events that we see happening in the NEM, categorised in terms of the seasons in which they occur.
Demand records in NSW tumble for the second weekend in a row
Sunday afternoon saw demand in NSW hit new historic lows for the second weekend in a row.
‘Grid Demand’ in the NSW region plunges on Saturday 11th September 2021
[POSTED AT ~13:00] On Sat 11th Sept 2021, the ‘Grid Demand’ in the NSW region has dropped to levels not seen for many, many years … especially when considering it is in the middle of the day!
Interim boost to wind and solar in South Australia from ElectraNet’s new Synchronous Condensers
From 10:00 today (Friday 10th September 2021), ElectraNet’s new synchronous condensers (which have been under testing) will be deliver a boost to Semi-Scheduled units in South Australia.
AEMO says – all systems go, for Five Minute Settlement
Sharing the AEMO’s email this morning alerting the market to the ‘full speed ahead to 5MS’ notice.
New low mark for production from brown coal on Saturday 28th August 2021
Following comments on social media over the weekend about a new low point for brown coal generation, I took a quick look.
Biggest price shock in history
Carl Daley of EnergyByte, examines recent energy and gas price volatility, leading to the conclusion that the May to July period in QLD and NSW has been the biggest shock to the spot market in history, and the forward price movements are rivalling the record setting year of 2007.
Low wind production (inside NSW+QLD) was one other factor contributing to price volatility in Q2 2021
As Q2 2021 unfolded, it seemed that there were many instances where prices spiked during evening demand peaks – and that wind output was low at the time. So I took a closer statistical look…
A quick look at the generator bids across Sunday 23rd August 2021 (when Solar temporarily eclipsed Coal)
Prompted by reports elsewhere of solar PV production eclipsing coal-fired production on Sunday for a period of time, I had a quick look (including at aggregate bid volumes).
What happened at each of the DUIDs impacted by the ‘Q>>NIL_CLWU_RGLC’ constraint equation on Sunday 24th January 2021 (Part 5)
It’s now seven months since the SCADA outage on Sunday 24th January 2021 – and we’re finally able to complete and publish this (quite long) article exploring some of the implications for units on the LHS of the ‘Q>>NIL_CLWU_RGLC’ constraint equation
AEMO identifies Power System Oscillations in ‘Polygon of Pain’ (Briefing Session – Wednesday 25th August)
A short note from AEMO’s weekly newsletter – about power system oscillations in west Murray region (VIC/NSW)
NEM-wide minimum demand (in winter) drops lower on Sunday 15th August 2021 … and Renewables Share in VIC higher
Sunday 15th August saw lowest level of Operational Demand in the NEM for a winter period, NEM-wide. This also led to a number of other outcomes (including higher renewable penetration, negative prices, … and chatter on social media).
A list of (some of) the factors contributing to the volatile price outcomes seen in Q2 2021 – particularly QLD and NSW
Prompted by last Friday’s publication of the AER’s ‘Wholesale Markets Quarterly’ for Q2 2021, here’s a tabulated summary of some of the contributing factors of spot price volatility (and hence high average prices) for the quarter – particularly for QLD and NSW.
Fire at Victoria Big Battery under control – Monday 2nd August 19:21
One Monday evening article noting reports that the fire at Victoria Big Battery is under control.
Fire continues at Victoria Big Battery into Monday morning (10:42am)
Monday’s update on the fire at the new ‘Victoria Big Battery’ – which seems to have mostly come under control by the afternoon.
Victoria Big Battery still burning on Sunday morning 1st August 2021
A short update on Sunday 1st August 2021, about the continuing fire at the Victoria Big Battery.
$1.5b write-down in value of assets at Origin Energy
On Thursday 30th July 2021 Origin Energy announced a large impairment on several different types of assets – its own generation portfolio, renewable PPAs, and gas purchase contracts. However the focus in the media sometimes did not include all three…
Three additional pieces of data, with respect to the (fire-affected) ‘Victorian Big Battery’
It’s Saturday evening, and here’s a look at what additional data I can see, in relation to the fire (and any after-effects) with the Victorian Big Battery.
Not a great start to operations at Victoria’s new ‘Big Battery’! (part 2)
Following the (very brief) initial article early this afternoon, here’s some more of what we have been able to determine about today’s fire at the new Victoria Big Battery facility near Geelong VIC.
Victoria’s new ‘Big Battery’ on fire (part 1)!
Here’s first data about Victoria’s Big Battery … which is on fire on Friday afternoon 30th July 2021 (literally!).