AEMO releases ‘Quarterly Energy Dynamics’ for Q4 2020
Quite a synergistic coincidence today that, at the same time as we are finalizing the release of the GSD2020, we see the AEMO publishes its Quarterly Energy Dynamics...
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Average spot prices through 2020 down at levels not seen for many years
Several conversations this week prompted me to update the long-term view of how spot prices have trended over time (in particular because average prices in 2020 were quite...
Heavy rain across Victoria squashes Small and Large Solar on Friday 29th January 2021
Short article today observing higher Scheduled Demand in VIC - which appears to be in large part due to state-wide suppression of solar PV production with heavy cloud...
Initial thoughts on AEMO’s draft Guidelines for Wholesale Demand Response (WDR)
A week ago (Thursday 21st Jan 2021) we received an email from AEMO following the publication of Draft Guidelines for the Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism. We share some...
Cool change arrives in Melbourne early on Monday 25th January 2021, dampening high demand expectations
Forecasts was that it would be hot across Victoria, and demand would be high, through Monday 25th January 2021. But the cool change arrived early.
Sunday 24th Jan 2021 (part 2) – down to the wire (because of bushfire) in South Australia
Second article today, focusing on what happened late in the afternoon and into the evening in South Australia.
Sunday 24th Jan 2021 – a couple discrete incidents
It was forecast it would be a hot day in the southern part of the NEM and it did not disappoint. The hot weather was one of the...
High temperatures, and high demand, forecast for Monday 25th January 2021
Following several different warnings of high temperatures forecast for the lead-in to Tuesday 26th January 2021 (whatever you want to call that day) I've taken a quick look...
Yesterday’s unexpected loss of ~500MW of rooftop PV in South Australia (another type of Contingency event – Credible, or Non-Credible?)
Wednesday 13th January 2021 was a busy day in the NEM, with a couple of different events occurring. In this article we explore a sudden and unexpected drop...
NEM Local Temperature alert for Dalby (QLD) for Sat 16th Jan 2021 … an opportunity to check the draft GSD2020
Today (Wed 13th Jan 2021) a high temperature alert published by AEMO for the Dalby area in southern QLD prompted a quick look at what the GSD2020 shows,...
Both units trip at Callide C on Wednesday 13th January 2021
A pretty rare event in the NEM, when two units trip simultaneously ... so a short article on WattClarity as a result.
Maximising the benefit of renewables with an intelligent energy management system
Following a presentation to the EESA in September, Dr Robert May and Ashley Nicholls from SA Water have written a case study detailing the sophisticated energy management system...
Cranking the handle, to produce the Generator Statistical Digest 2020
In the same week that the Energy Security Board publishes it's 'The Health of the NEM' reports, looking from a top-down systems perspective, we crank the handle to...
Status update, on availability of the 48x remaining coal units across Q1 2021
Using an in-development (but soon to be released) widget in ez2view we take a look at forecast availability for coal units in NSW, VIC and QLD for the...
Bottom falls out of electricity demand in VIC on Christmas Day 2020
Short note about what might be a new record low point for electricity demand in Victoria on Christmas Day 2020.
Temperature Alert!
As we wind down for Christmas, recapping some developments (in Nov and Dec 2020) about high temperature limitations on generation technology across the NEM.
How aggregate production from Wind and Large Solar in NSW dropped last week – one factor contributing to price spikes and Reserve Trader
An unfortunately timed significant slump in output across all Wind and Large Solar plant in NSW was another of the factors contributing to the price volatility seen in...
What’s up with the fleet of 16 x coal-fired units in NSW?
Following a week where several days saw price volatility in NSW (with this being so extreme that Reserve Trader was triggered on Thursday 17th December) we've taken a...
Liddell unit 3 out till perhaps March 2021 after transformer incident (serious injury to one person)
The publication by AGL Energy of the short note about the transformer incident (and injured worker) at Liddell unit 3 yesterday prompted me to have a quick look,...
Increasing the transparency and correctness of intermittent generation availability information to AEMO
Following up to AEMO's recent Intermittent Generator forum, Marcelle looks at the challenges for wind and solar farms in providing consistently good plant availability information to AEMO and...