Yes, the demand did peek above 30,000MW

As a quick PS to the note earlier today (posted a bit too early in the afternoon), I note that the demand did rise to a maximum today of 30,218MW at 15:50 – which would seem to be the maximum all summer, as well.

Here’s a view of the dispatch interval just beforehand which we managed to capture in real time.  In this image, we can also see that demand in VIC and SA has just nudged out of the green zone, as a result of the high temperatures this afternoon.

2012-02-24 at 15-45 NEM-Watch

To put this into context:

1)  This demand is still 800MW below the lowest entry in our “Peak Demand Forecaster” competition for this summer.  Hence one might suppose that it’s a fair bit lower than many people in the industry had expected (and these were not predictions made ages in advance).

2)  It’s also still below the peak demand experienced in summer 2005-06 (so 6 years ago) of 30,994MW when measured on the same basis, and the peak demand of every summer since.


About the Author

Paul McArdle
One of three founders of Global-Roam back in 2000, Paul has been CEO of the company since that time. As an author on WattClarity, Paul's focus has been to help make the electricity market more understandable.

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