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 six months on, there has been a significant shift in some of the causer pays factors, mostly from coal and wind generation.

From what we can see, solar, for the most part, continue to pay the most in causer pays. The seasonal trend is broadly lower causer pays over the winter period and then higher factors over summer. Interestingly, wind in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 had a significant spike in causer pays factors. We can see that this was driven by significantly increase factors from Telstra Energy which accounted for almost 5% of all causer pays payments in February.

Ben Cerini

Ben Cerini

To keep reading, please log in to your account

Log in
Contact us

Related thinking

Energy storage and flexibility

R1 and L1 revving up the BESS revenues

In our ‘The VFF… Very Fast and Financially rewarding market so far’ Chart of the week, the two new contingency markets, the Very Fast raise contingency FCAS market and the Very Fast lower contingency FCAS, were analysed and demonstrated the high participation of big batteries along with VPPs and DERs....

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

The VFF… Very Fast and Financially rewarding market so far

On 9 October 2023, 1pm (market time), we saw the start of two new contingency FCAS markets. The Very fast raise contingency FCAS market, and the Very fast lower contingency FCAS. Upon commencement of the VF FCAS market, a commissioning period of two weeks with an initial max requirement of...

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

“Ooh, a storm is threatening, My very [interconnection] today”: Can states utilise interconnection to share wind resources?

Penetration of renewables continues to dominate the energy news, as we saw renewables as a proportion of total demand reach new heights this week to a new record of ~70% penetration. In light of this continuing march toward a renewable-dominated grid (building on some analysis we did in Chart of...

Energy storage and flexibility

How long is the ‘Golden time of day’ for batteries?

A key part of the business case for grid-scale standalone batteries is the arbitrage opportunity between low daytime wholesale prices (when renewable energy generation from solar is plentiful) and high evening prices (when the sun goes down and household demand ramps up quickly). The share of battery revenue coming from...

Low carbon generation

MLF changes in NSW in the past decade

MLF, short for Marginal Loss Factor, represents the portion of electricity losses that occur along the transmission network between a connection point and the Regional Reference Node (RRN). Within the NEM, the MLF serves as a metric to quantify these losses along the network, playing a pivotal role in determining...