generators

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Moving with the times: How trading strategies in the NEM changed in a year

    Inherent in an electricity market like the NEM is its ever-changing landscape. Contributors to these changes may be government-driven policies, evolving market dynamics caused by external factors like a global pandemic, a worldwide rise in fuel prices, and even changes in the market structure itself. As cliché as it may...

  • Commercial and market outlook

    Recent events push NEM turnover to new heights

    The story of recent times in the NEM has been the significant escalation of wholesale price outcomes in the market. As discussed repeatedly, elevated fuel costs for gas and supply constraints in the market have sent NEM turnover to uncharted territory. By NEM turnover, we refer to the total costs...

  • Low carbon generation

    Embedded generators and the future of TNUoS charging

    Electricity network charges are currently undergoing a significant period of reform to ensure that charging methodologies are fit for purpose in the transitioning energy market. Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) generator charges are a particular topic of debate at present, with locational tariffs raising concern by some parties and...

  • 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...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Dispatchable capacity – it’s a marathon AND a sprint

    For now, incumbent generators (like coal) will need to meet the NEM ramping requirements. Provided that coal remains online with the current dispatchable capacity, there is likely to be sufficient capacity in reserve to meet the ramping requirements of the system albeit in an incremental way (every five minutes). However,...

  • Low carbon generation

    Chart of the week | To 6 GW… and beyond! Offshore wind in the CfD scheme

    The role of Contracts for Difference (CfD) generators in the electricity market continues to expand and Allocation Round 4 (AR4) to be held later in 2021 will expand this role further. By the end of 2020, installed generating capacity supported by the CfD scheme already totalled 5.2GW, providing Great Britain...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Australian Chart of the week | Supply creates its own demand: negative pricing in the NEM

    In the National Electricity Market (NEM), generators offer the prices at which they are willing to supply electricity to the system operator – the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) – who in turn matches these offers with demand on a least-cost merit order basis. The offer price of the last...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | We built this city… on existing generation

    The Capacity Market (CM), introduced under the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) policy programme is designed to ensure security of electricity supply in GB. This is done by providing payments – determined through a competitive auction– to generators and eligible demand side response (DSR) and can encourage existing plant to remain...

  • 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 | Race to the bottom: Negative prices on the rise and spreading

    Negative prices are becoming a more frequent occurrence in the NEM as variable renewable energy (VRE) plays a larger role in the supply mix. Negative priced offers from generators form a large part of the MW capacity offered into the market. The negative prices we see in dispatch intervals reflects...

  • Energy storage and flexibility

    Chart of the week | Cha-Cha Slide: COVID-19 & falling levels of inertia

    The level of inertia on the system is a key contributor to electricity system stability. Inertia is an attribute of the system related to the energy stored in the rotating motors of synchronous generators. It prevents system frequency from falling too quickly after a frequency disturbance (e.g. a generator trip)....

  • 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...