AEMO

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | AEMO’s 2025 goal means that SA becomes the proving grounds

    The latest news in the National Electricity Market (NEM) is AEMO’s goal to be capable of handling periods of 100% instantaneous renewables penetration by 2025. This is a significant challenge and fitting given the pace the NEM is moving to, supporting increasingly higher levels of instantaneous (and increasingly asynchronous) renewables...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Australian Chart of the week | Two roller coaster rides for the price of one? Preliminary vs final MLFs

    In recent years, movements in marginal loss factors (MLFs) have received significant attention in the National Electricity Market (NEM). Many renewable projects in remote areas have experienced material MLF reductions as more supply connects nearby. For example, the MLF for Broken Hill Solar Farm saw a whopping 50 ppt drop...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | Peak raise regulation FCAS volumes drop by 72MWs

    It is helpful to understand Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) as FCAS price forecasts are needed to estimate generator and customer costs, as well as possible revenues for new and existing ancillary service providers. AEMO procures regulation FCAS to balance frequency during normal operation. From May 2019, AEMO has procured...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | If I should stay, I’ll only be in your way: coal and the transition

    Events in Queensland on 25 May 2021 tested the resilience of the Queensland demand/supply balance with 3GW of coal generation suddenly coming offline due to a loss of generation at the Callide power station. According to AEMO’s preliminary report – released on 1 June 2021 – on the event, the outage also...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Show me the future: can storage bank on FCAS being bankable?

    Previously we have examined the importance in FCAS prices for the revenue stream for batteries. With a growing interest in batteries in the market, this ‘Chart of the week’ takes a deeper look into the impact of bidding behaviour on the Regulation Raise price since 2012. From January 2012 until...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | Gassed out: are renewables running gas out of the market?

    Last week, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) released its ‘Quarterly Energy Dynamics’ (QED) report for Q4 2020. The report highlighted that operational demand has fallen to its lowest quarterly level since 2001; largely driven by mild weather and strong uptake of rooftop solar. Coupled with record high wind and...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | I can’t believe it’s not b[e]tter?… spreads getting better in NSW

    The Federal Government announced this week that they will step into the electricity market (through the state-owned Snowy Hydro) to build up to 1,000MW of gas-fired generation to fill the gap left by the Liddell Power station for the 2023-24 summer unless the market can demonstrate final investment on dispatchable...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Where do we go now…. Sweet child o’ mine?

    On 6 November the Victorian government announced the commitment to deliver, along with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the largest battery in Australia 300MW. The Geelong battery is contracted under AEMO’s System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) allowing an additional 250MW to flow across the interconnector and respond to network...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | SA ducks in the news (again); what about the QLD duck?

    South Australia is back in the news again with the state achieving a world-first on Sunday, October 11, 2020. According to a recent update from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), between 12-1PM, solar power provided 100% of South Australia’s energy demand - a first in Australia and for any...

  • Power and gas networks

    Australian Chart of the week | Need a little controversy; ‘cause it feels so empty without me?

    Last week, in our chart of the week we wrote about the Federal Government’s announcement surrounding the replacement of Liddell with 1,000 MW of 24/7 dispatchable gas capacity. A week can be a long time as this figure has now fallen to 250MW – much more in line with AEMO’s...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | Got your money; wind shaking up the merchant revenue order?

    Ideal weather conditions for wind and solar across the NEM in recent weeks saw renewables hit new highs in the National Electricity Market (NEM). A recent update from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) indicated that around noon on the 20th of August, wind and solar contributed 11.7GW - 46.5%...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | One of these things is not like the others: FCAS separation value

    Energy storage has been at the forefront of conversations resulting from AEMO’s newly released 2020 Integrated System Plan (ISP). The ISP states that 6-19GW of dispatchable resources are needed to support more than 26GW of new renewables. So where will battery energy storage fit in and where will they make...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | The wind and the sun: an old age quarrel… or friendship?

    Last week, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) released the Q2 edition of its Quarterly Energy Dynamics (QED) report. A key finding in the report is the reduction in wholesale electricity prices seen last quarter. With government-supported Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) being proposed especially in New South Wales (NSW), what...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | Things are not what they seem: capturing intraday price volatility

    The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO’s) recently released Quarterly Energy Dynamics (QED) report for Q1 2020 stated that average spot electricity prices in the National Electricity Market (NEM) fell to their lowest levels in 4 years ($66/MWh) last quarter. Victoria, in particular, witnessed a significant drop – 48% – from...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | System strength: From by-product to necessity

    Last week, AEMO published a notice of fault level shortfall in North Queensland at the Ross node. This announcement represents the latest case of system strength issues in the National Electricity Market (NEM). It joins a growing list of areas where intervention (through direction or constraints) is required to ensure...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | A tale of two cities: batteries vs pumped hydro & solar vs wind

    On 1 April 2020 the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) released the final Marginal Loss Factors - MLFs - for 2020-21. This week's Chart of the Week looks at how the MLFs have changed and which assets benefited the most. If we look closely at the MLF results over the past...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | Tis’ all about the Benjamins: foregone value of solar constraints

    Summer is now well and truly behind us. However, grid stability remains a concern with no relief in sight for the five solar farms across Victoria and NSW. The solar farms are currently at 50% output. The constraint has been in place since mid-September last year and will likely last...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | You’re gonna need a bigger boat: NW VIC in the waves of change

    Back in September 2019, issues with system strength saw five solar farms have their output curtailed by up to 50%. This situation in North West Victoria has been at the center of many discussions over the last fortnight. Particularly in light of the West Murray Technical Forum held by AEMO. In...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | From sunrise to sunset: the outlook for merchant solar

    Utility-scale solar is certainly making an impression on the NEM with the recently released Quarterly Energy Dynamics from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). It reported that Q4 2019 saw the highest grid-solar output on record. In addition, Shell announced its first foray into the world of utility-scale solar. They...

  • Regulation and policy

    Australian Chart of the week | Too low for zero: I’m on a losing streak

    On the morning of 6 February 2020 AEMO issued market notice 73857. This was in response to the enduring islanding of the SA network informing the market that when SA demand falls under 800MW a number of generators will be constrained down to zero. This includes more than 500MW of...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Is now the time to consider an operating reserve service?

    This summer has already seen a number of instances of tightening supply/demand balance across the National Electricity Market (NEM). This has consequently resulted in a range of reactions from the market operator (AEMO) and other market stakeholders. There were extreme weather events as well as fluctuating supply and disruptions. As...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | The more things change, the more they stay the same…

    This Chart of the week focuses on the comparatively small but important Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) in the NEM. FCAS in terms of total dollars is minuscule in comparison to the total energy bill. While the proportion may appear small, its function is key to maintaining a secure operating...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | I’ve reached the top and had to stop and that’s what botherin’ me

    The past few months have seen close attention paid to the curtailment of renewable generators across the NEM. We have seen AEMO limit the output of solar generators in North Western Victoria to manage voltage issues, the continuing story of wind curtailment in SA as a result of system strength....