On batteries, and “fixing South Australia’s problems”
Some quick thoughts about Tesla's promise to "fix South Australia's power woes". Which specific problem is Tesla promising to fix?
Areas of deeper analysis
Question – in an interconnected electricity system (and market), when did it become acceptable to neglect a systems view?
Because of (technical and commercial) interconnectedness in the National Electricity Market, the possibility of unintended consequences should be kept in mind
Review of the NEM in 2016
Electricity consumption in the National Electricity Market (NEM) increased by 0.8% in 2016, this is on top of a 1.1% increase in 2015. Queensland and NSW experienced increases in consumption with all other states...
Forecasting is a Mug’s Game
The three main flaws that put boundaries on the usefulness of all forecasting/modelling
A big disconnect between words and actions?
Can you help me understand this apparent (and large) disconnect between words and actions in the GreenPower space?
The new energy ecosystem
Transformation in the electricity industry is occurring at an astounding rate. What’s more, it’s happening globally and Australia is pretty much ground zero. As a result, a new energy ecosystem is emerging. Accenture has...
Infigen Energy suffering from “wind correlation penalty” in South Australian wind farms
Some thoughts about the possible uplift to Infigen Energy revenues, stemming from higher forward contract prices in the South Australian region of the NEM
The war for dispatch: Who will control distributed energy?
In today’s energy sector, it is rare to get electricity networks, retailers, generators and system controllers in the same room at the same time. In a deconstructed market about to be transformed by distributed...
If I was going to assess Factors Contributing to the “truly remarkable” Q2 2016 prices, here are some starting places I’d look…
A starting list of factors that I'd look further into, if I was sucked into the "rabbit hole" of assessing all of the contributing factors leading to the Remarkable Prices seen in Q2 2016...
Reviewing Q2 prices – short-term excursion, or more systemic change in pricing patterns?
Some initial analysis about the remarkable pricing outcomes seen across all regions of the NEM through Q2 2016
Comparison of spot (i.e. physical) and contract (i.e. financial) for calendar 2015
Over on our Demand-Response focused site, I posted an article yesterday providing a high-level comparison between contract prices for calendar 2015 and final spot prices (for the 4 mainland regions). This was in response...
Assessing the opportunity for Demand Response in Queensland
Our guest author, Mike Williams, has posted some analysis (over on the specially-focused Demand Response site) looking at the benefits of spot exposure and Demand Response in Queensland
What role might Demand Response play in a (possible) future grid featuring high levels of intermittency?
Back on 8th October, I spoke at All Energy in Melbourne on this topic. Given the questions posed after the session, it seemed that it might be of value to some WattClarity readers if...
Ramp rates, for “Unserved Demand” much higher in this future world
A quick look at how ramp rates would vary (for "Unserved Consumption") in the hypothetical "10x" high intermittency grid.
Considerable spillage, in the high intermittency “10x” scenario
Continuing our analysis of these hypothetical future scenarios to understand the shape of "unserved energy" and hence the potential contribution of Demand Response - today I post about energy spilled in a future with...
What would “demand” look like, in a “10x” intermittent scenario
Laying out the framework for the analysis I'm doing for my presentation at All Energy 2015 - about the role Demand Response might play in a future market dominated by intermittent generation
Seeking to understand the great Network Debate
Sitting on the outside, looking in, this article sums up what seems to be the main areas of contention in the great Network Debate that's been running the past couple years.
Know of a talented young electricity-sector engineer (a future international Cornwall scholar)?
The University of Queensland has called for applicants for the next round of the E.S.Cornwall Memorial scholarship (closes Friday 31st July). A great opportunity for a young engineer to gain international experience at this...
Three sample approaches (of 173 worldwide) to integrating renewables into the grid
We saw Ryan Wavish present on this topic at All Energy 2014, and invited him to write an article for WattClarity highlighting some of the learnings of the ARENA-funded study.
National regulations encourage new entrant retailers
Some thoughts about why we've been seeing an increase in the number of authorised electricity retailers competing in the Australian National Electricity Market, from a new guest author - Connor James