generation

  • Low carbon generation

    An investigation into REZ capacity factors during Victoria’s dark doldrums

    As the grid transitions to much higher levels of renewable penetration, the range of generation outcomes on any given day increases. The worst of these ranges are known as dark doldrums when there is a combination of poor conditions for wind and solar generation, usually a windless day in winter....

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Is the sun setting on utility solar?

    The Federal Government has legislated emissions reductions of 43% below 2005 levels by 2030. Sourcing electricity from renewable technologies is fundamental to meeting this, with a much-publicised target of 82% renewables in the grid by 2030 – up from a current value of 38% over the last year. Fortunately, the...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    The Very Fast FCAS market is about to commence – a look at a possible time-of-day profile for R1

    On 9 October 2023, 1pm (market time), the dispatch of the new Very Fast (VF) FCAS market in the NEM will commence and will add two new markets for contingency FCAS, Raise 1 (R1) and Lower 1 (L1). AEMO has released a final industry go-live plan to keep track of...

  • Low carbon generation

    Putting the National in NEM

    The Australia-Asia power line proposed by Sun Cable will connect a 17-20GW capacity solar plant to Darwin with an 800km High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line, which then connects to Singapore via a 4,500km HVDC transmission subsea cable (Australia-Asia-powerlink). Expected to be operational by 2027, the $35 billion project has...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    The Knights who say FI: FI growing despite forecast systems popularity

    Although not quite as thrilling for some as the search for the Holy Grail, finding a way to minimise causer pays costs continues to take the focus of both wind and solar farms. Using the FI value through self-forecast systems[1] has become increasingly prevalent for these assets in an effort...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Two more retailers bite the dust

    The announcement on Friday that QEnergy and Mojo Power will no longer provide retail services illustrates the battering Australian electricity retailers have faced over the last year. High hedging costs, especially for non-vertically integrated retailers, have seen smaller retailers hit the wall, such as Elysian Energy, Enova Energy, and Power...

  • Power and gas networks

    Forced imports: VIC-NSW interconnector summer moonwalk?

    A lot has been written recently about how the energy transition is lagging behind the required installed capacity needed to deliver on our net-zero future. We also know that the connection of new generation requires significant investment into additional transmission infrastructure (or other non-network solutions) and that this needs to...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Minimum demand projections in Victoria

    The surplus rooftop solar provides an enormous opportunity for additional flexible load, where this can be optimised during the day. Electric Vehicles acting at a distributed level (exactly where the surplus is arising) provide the perfect solution if utilised in conjunction with smart metering to assist in mitigating these issues....

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Spring is here, where are you?

    With the onset of spring in September, we typically observe a drop in demand in NEM. However, this year the decline in demand has seen NEM and multiple states breaking several records for minimum operational demand in the middle of the day, which is largely driven by solar penetration in...

  • Low carbon generation

    Australian Chart of the week | VRE pays more as PFR helps reduce coal FCAS costs

    In our previous ‘Chart of the week’ in November 2020, we reviewed the increasing percentage of causer pays cost that solar generators bear due to their generation profiles and how this results in them paying significantly more of the causer pays cost as a ratio of the generation they provide. More than...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | The pipeline for CfD AR4: Who, where, when?

    ‘Pot 1’ technologies may be reinstated in the next Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 4 in 2021. This Chart of the week looks at the pipeline of renewables projects which are most likely to enter the auction.

  • Low carbon generation

    Pixie Chart of the week | Germany demonstrates benefit of auction system

    Germany regularly runs auctions to subsidise renewable generation capacity. In 2020, it plans to run 20 auctions – seven solar, seven onshore wind, three biomass and three mixed wind and solar – as well as six for CHP engines, seeking nearly 7GW of capacity in total. The auctions set a...

  • 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 | CleanCo – little ripples make big waves

    Many would have noticed that CleanCo received their electricity retailer authorisation from the AER recently. Therefore, signifying a key step to providing retail electricity services to customers. In order to sell energy, a retailer needs to obtain a retailer authorisation, under the National Electricity Retail Law. Now, Cleanco can sell...

  • Low carbon generation

    Pixie Chart of the week | Electricity North West projects future energy demand

    Just as National Grid Electricity System Operator publishes its annual Future Energy Scenarios, Distribution Network Operator (DNO) Electricity North West (ENW) launched its Distribution Future Energy Scenarios. The DNO has forecast future electricity generation and consumption across its network out to 2050, across five scenarios representing a base-case, as well...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Pixie Chart of the week | CAISO investigates battery energy storage

    On 3 December 2019, CAISO presented its learnings when investigating the potential to use batteries to bridge the gap between peak solar generation and peak demand. In this week’s Pixie Chart of the Week, we take a look at load, net and generation vs Real Time Daily (RTD) prices in the Californian...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Marginal loss factors: are we going average or what?

    Marginal loss factors (MLFs) are now a hot topic in the NEM after being a relatively unexciting feature of the market. Previously, in the period 2000-2015, MLFs were reasonably predictable and variations year-on-year were minor. This reflected the stability of the generation sector. In contrast with today, new generators are...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the Week | Call on me: Scottish wind farms in the Balancing Mechanism

    While much of the attention in the Balancing Mechanism (BM) focusses on how flexible technologies such as gas, coal and, increasingly, batteries are being commercially utilised, less is often spoken about the role of wind. This week’s Chart of the Week provides detail on this recent trend and importantly who is being...

  • Regulation and policy

    Pixie Chart of the week | Pinpointing potential generation-dominated areas

    In a recent consultation on options for forward-looking charges, Ofgem proposed to introduce the concept of Generation and Demand Dominated Areas (GDAs and DDAs) in the Common Distribution Charging Methodology (CDCM). The CDCM governs the distribution charges that low- and higher-voltage (up to 22kV) connected users see and currently applies...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | Now FiT export is going, what next?

    BEIS has stated that it intends to close the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) export for new small-scale generation. It has not ruled out intervention beyond 1 April 2019. However, it has placed the onus firmly on the industry to demonstrate why a guaranteed route to market has merit. BEIS’ plans were...