For two remarkable winter evenings in 2007 (19th and 20th June specifically) NEM-Wide Instantaneous Reserve Plant Margin (IRPM) plunged to the lowest levels ever seen in the NEM (a mere 7.6%) as generators were caught short of capacity by a cold snap that hit earlier than expected, whilst plant was still out for maintenance and other plant still suffering from drought-inflicted limitations of capability.
Paul was one of the founders of Global-Roam in February 2000. He is currently the CEO of the company and the principal author of WattClarity. Writing for WattClarity has become a natural extension of his work in understanding the electricity market, enabling him to lead the team in developing better software for clients.
Before co-founding the company, Paul worked as a Mechanical Engineer for the Queensland Electricity Commission in the early 1990s. He also gained international experience in Japan, the United States, Canada, the UK, and Argentina as part of his ES Cornwall Memorial Scholarship.
Carl Daley of EnergyByte, examines recent energy and gas price volatility, leading to the conclusion that the May to July period in QLD and NSW has been the biggest shock to the spot market in history, and the forward price movements are rivalling the record setting year of 2007.
A cold evening in the NEM, and yet demand can’t make it past 30,000MW – which would have been quite startling 4 or 5 years ago (but not now, as demand has been declining for a number of reasons).
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