Spot power at $0/MWh in all regions (Sign ‘o the Times*?)
A few thoughts about the dispatch price being at, or below, $0/MWh for a dispatch interval on Sunday afternoon – implications for the future…
2019
A quick look at Mortlake Unit 2 outage
A quick look after the unit trip (including reported explosion) at Mortlake Unit 2
Navigating the grid – challenges for new solar farm operators
A synopsis of the presentation provided by guest author, Jonathon Dyson, at the Solar Asset Management conference earlier today in Sydney.
Which was that ‘mystery DUID’ that apparently ‘can’t stand the heat’*?
Returning to the challenge posed to readers in April 2019, to guess (or analytically determine!) which of the hundreds of units operating in the NEM showed such a severe limitation in output at high temperatures. It’s not what most people thought it was – far from it!
Some very preliminary details of the possible causes of the Argentinian Blackout
Some very preliminary information (based on an internet search) about factors that might have contributed to the blackout in Argentina and neighbouring parts of South America this week.
Extended outage of Loy Yang A unit 2 – reliability and forward price impacts
A broader look at what the extended outage at Loy Yang A unit 2 seems to be having on the spot and financial markets into the future, via AEMO MT PASA data, and via the ASX Energy’s futures price data.
17-year trend of aggregated coal unit unavailability as from the Generator Report Card
Some excerpts from the Generator Report Card to sample some of the analysis we performed to assess various aspects of the ‘dependability’ of coal-fired power stations in the NEM. In this post we highlight availability (or, more precisely, the level of unavailability) as an aggregated monthly volumetric measure trended over 17 years.
Brief comment on the extended outage at Loy Yang A unit 2
Following the notice from AGL Energy on Friday last week about the extended outage occurring at Loy Yang A unit 2, here’s some initial thoughts via WattClarity (with more to come as time permits)
Upcoming Q&A sessions on the Generator Report Card
Here’s some initial details of upcoming informal Q&A sessions in Melbourne (on Tuesday next week!), followed by Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney – where we’d look forward to meeting with those interested in the Generator Report Card.
Five different aspects of assessing the “dependability” of coal-fired power (in the Generator Report Card)
The framework we used to analyse the extent to which coal-fired power is “dependable” in the Generator Report Card, and the extent to which it’s been changing.
Some early comments made about the Generator Report Card
A summary of some comments that we’ve seen in the first few days of the Generator Report Card
Generator Report Card released (on Friday 31st May 2019)
For those who have already pre-ordered their copy, this is how you can access – and for those who have not, but would like a copy, this is how to arrange this as well.
A page for each DUID in (Part 3 of) the Generator Report Card
Worth sharing the level of detail we’re going to, in Part 3 of the Generator Report Card (5 parts in total), where we have assembled millions of data points into a single page summarizing the last 10 years of performance of a particular generation unit. There’s a page for each operational unit (327 in total).
Degradation of performance at high temperatures
We’re taking a much, much deeper dive into generator performance at high temperatures (for all DUIDs operational across the NEM) to see how each one of them, individually, is affected by high temperatures. Guess which one this “mystery DUID” is and we’d look forward to providing some form of prize…
Despite growing diversity of Large Solar farms (NEM-wide), large weather events still have major dampening effects
Sharing a trend of daily capacity factor across all Large Solar plant (post commissioning) in the NEM (preliminary analysis for our Generator Report Card).
About claims that AGL was responsible for the uplift in prices after Hazelwood closed
With another upsurge in interest in the effect of Hazelwood closure on price outcomes in the NEM, we’ve invested some time to provide these thoughts.
Peak Wind Output in the NEM has climbed above 4000MW
A large block of green (signifying wind) in our NEMwatch dashboard this morning prompts a look at what the all-time maximum production is these days…
Price Setting Concepts – an Explainer
Guest author, Allan O’Neil, contributes to our series of articles explaining how prices are set the the NEM (as part of how dispatch works). In this article, Allan explains some of the details in the AEMO’s “Price Setter” file.
A twenty year review of Marginal Loss Factors
Last week the AEMO released a draft of the Marginal Loss Factors (MLFs) that would apply to both generation and loads connected to the NEM. This page on the AEMO site links to more details. On that page, the AEMO…
A (Much) Deeper Dive into Friday March 1 2019
Guest author, Allan O’Neil, drills into considerable depth to understand, and clearly explain, some of what happened during a volatile period in the VIC and SA regions on Friday 1st March 2019