South Australia islanded from the eastern part of the NEM overnight
South Australia was electrically islanded from the eastern part of the NEM for a number of hours overnight. Here's a quick (early morning) look at some of what happened.
Articles by Paul McArdle
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.
Belated record of a ‘1 in 20 years’ planned outage at Eraring Power Station that had all 4 units offline
In pulling together this article in November 2024 [LINK TO COME] we came across a curious time from October to November 2016 that saw all 4 Eraring units offline for an overlapped period of...
Summer 2016-17 in the NEM
Articles relating to what happens across the NEM through summer 2016-17
So early in summer, will Queensland set a new record for peak demand?
Head's up for what might be a new record maximum electricity demand on Friday - so early in summer...
AEMC published final determination about ‘Demand Response Mechanism and Ancillary Services Unbundling’
On 24 November 2016 the AEMC made a final rule to create a new type of market participant (a ‘Market Ancillary Services Provider’ (MASP)) who can aggregate and offer Demand Response into the FCAS...
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?
Hazelwood closure announcement reflected in MT PASA capacity forecasts
Engie's announced closure of Hazelwood reflected as a big step change reduction in available capacity in Victoria at the end of March 2017.
What would price impacts be, if Hazelwood were to close in March 2017 as rumoured?
In reality, it's impossible to "know" what the price outcomes would be when Hazelwood closes. Here's some reasons why...
Wind speeds and the Blackout of South Australia
Wind speeds up during the blackout of September 28th in South Australia
First shot at trying to understand what went on, leading to the SA blackout of Wednesday 28th September
First attempt to try to piece together events leading up to the blackout in South Australia on Wed 28th September 2016
AEMO announces “Black System” across South Australia at 16:24 on Wednesday 28th September
Power's out across South Australia on the afternoon of Wednesday 28th September
About the looming (potential) closure of Hazelwood power station
Some initial thoughts following articles about the mooted closure of Hazelwood Power Station as early as April 2017.
Spring 2016 in the NEM
Articles about Spring in the NEM – September, October, November 2016
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
Ararat Wind Farm begins production in Victoria during August
Quick snap of Ararat Wind Farm starting up in August.
Increased complexity, and challenges, in this energy transition
Two slides (from BNEF and AEMO) that provide some context on the energy transition
Another day where LOR2 notice issued for SA – what does it mean?
AEMO issued a Market Notice this morning for an LOR2 "Low Reserve Condition" in South Australia. Here's my sense of some of what's happening.
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...
The Emotion-o-Meter
A figurative illustration of the broad range of people we're increasingly seeing weighing into the discussion about the future of the energy sector. Itself a challenge for the transition.
A model’s just a model – it’s not reality (though some models might be useful)
Models are simplifications of reality. Some are more precise than others. Some are useful for different purposes.