A timely reminder of the need for *much* more diversity in wind harvest patterns
Alerted by our NEMwatch dashboard, I delve into the data and see a scary degree of correlation between the (very low) output of wind farms in south-east South...
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Network outage, and low wind, combine to drive spot price volatility in the SA region on Thursday 26th April
An unexpected network outage in the south-east of South Australia restricts supplies from Victoria at a time of low wind supply in South Australia and results in the...
An explainer about electricity demand [take 1]
Following from a steady stream of questions we receive in relation to a range of our products (but in particular with respect to "the RenewEconomy Widget") we've invested...
When the NEM’s Largest Generating Unit Trips …
A follow-on to my earlier article of a couple weeks ago, looking at another instance where a team effort was required to counter a drop in system frequency...
Renewable energy – did it just laze about over summer?
A review of the high demand periods over summer 2017/18 highlights the important contribution renewable generation is making to meeting peak demand and addressing the reliability of the...
FCAS in Action – What Happens When a Generator Trips? (or Never let the data get in the way of a good story)
Understanding the FCAS response by all generators when a unit trips in the NEM. A detailed look at the Loy Yang A unit trip in December 2017 and...
Just because a company wears a “green halo”, that does not mean it can disrespect its potential customers [UPDATED]
An advertisement seen on TV in recent days from a (relatively) new entrant in the energy sector reinforces, to me, the need for the energy sector more broadly...
Power System Frequency – What is it doing? – Why does it matter?
The East Coast power system of Australia has the worst frequency regulation in the developed world. This puts the system at risk whenever an event occurs which requires...
Short term forecasting of wind power plant generation for the provision of ancillary services
As NEM wind power plants progressively work towards implementing FCAS, the criticality of ensuring that the power system either a) takes account of the variability in the wind...
Let’s Keep Talking About FCAS
Following on from the Let's Talk About FCAS post, the focus of this post is the business case and subsequent optimisation challenge for getting involved in FCAS, now...
Autumn 2018 in the NEM
A collection of articles about things we see occurring in the NEM.
Power station ‘trips’ are normal, but blackouts are not
Understanding the difference between blackouts, generator trips and intermittent generation and how these events are managed.
Grandfathers Axe or Low Hanging Fruit?
Upgrading our existing coal thermal fleet to increase efficiency and flexibility could provide a cost-effective opportunity to add dispatchable capacity and lower the overall carbon intensity of our...
Third peak Scheduled Demand in Queensland in 3 days – 9,924 MW at 16:50 Wednesday 14th February
A new peak Scheduled Demand and Operational Demand in Queensland today with Scheduled Demand still over 9,100 MW after 8 PM.
Queensland region sees a new record peak Scheduled Demand – at 18:50 on Monday 12th February
Queensland experienced a new record for Scheduled Demand for electricity today - but what's particular staggering is how late in the day it happened!
Available Generation reduction across Loy yang A and Loy Yang B over Sunday evening was only 420MW
A brief look at the numbers with the temporary coal supply issue affecting Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B overnight
High electricity demand forecast for Queensland – on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week
Looks like being an interesting day on Wednesday next week (14th February 2018) with high temperatures currently forecast for parts of both QLD and NSW
Victorian demand rises above 9,000MW – which (in combination with other factors) leads to a volatile day in the southern regions
On a day when high temperatures drove demand in Victoria above 9,000MW (and NEM-wide demand above 30,000MW) we saw some price volatility - with prices in VIC and...
Queensland’s Scheduled Demand for electricity topped 9,000MW today (Wed 31st Jan) for the first time in summer 2017-18
Electricity demand in Queensland today reached 9072MW in the 16:40 dispatch interval, passing 9,000MW for the first time this summer.
Sunday 28th January sees Victorian electricity demand (Scheduled, and Operational) above 9,000MW
Yesterday (Sunday 28th January) saw electricity demand (both Scheduled and Operational) above 9,000MW in the heat. Others have noted this was the highest-ever non-working day demand in Victoria,...