A run of high energy prices was observed in SA this morning, 18 July 2024.
The 8:05 dispatch interval (3,943 $/MWh) was to first to lead the run. It bridged the the 8:00 price of 422 $/MWh (which had crept up from the 200 – 300 $/MWh mark) and the 8:10 price of 9,899 $/MWh. From 8:10 to 9:10 only two of the 13 intervals were below 9,000 $/MWh.
This annotated screengrab from ez2view captures the prices, in chart form and table form.
Initial inspection suggests, as is often the case, there are several contributing factors. It appears these include:
- A constrained Heywood interconnector (V_VS_LB_HY_50, Limit SA contingency size to 50 MW by limiting Heywood VIC to SA + Lake Bonney WF <= 50 MW when SA is at risk of separation), and
- Relatively low VRE (wind and solar) output – at times during the period VRE output was around 10% of total SA market demand.
The event this morning comes a day after planning approval was granted to the Limestone Coast Energy Park battery. Will having that storage online allow the 50MW constraint on the Heywood interconnecter to be relaxed?
Hi Tristan, Thanks for the question. It does indeed seem like it could support the grid in that way, being quite large – 500 MW / 1500 MWh. Perhaps a SIPS (or similar) contract might be entered into. We’ll have to keep an eye out. Noting the anticipated timeline for operation is in 2026.