Macarthur Wind Farm opened today – but the wind did not show up for the opening
The Macarthur Wind Farm opening was officially opened today, but the wind did not make an appearance.
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.
Highest electricity demand for Victoria in four years last Tuesday (12th March) – and 400MW of DSR operates
Following some tweets from the esaa mentioning how the demand in Victoria on Tuesday 12th March was the highest seen for four years, we had a look back through our records on the day.
… and so the winners are…
Recapping who's won the Beefmaster Premium BBQ (and 5 other prizes as well) as the "Best Demand Forecasters in the NEM" for summer 2012-13
Recapping NEM-wide demand for summer 2012-13
A view of how NEM-wide demand trended over summer, with respect to our Best Demand Forecaster in the NEM competition.
Do you know of someone who could be our Energy Market Analyst (initially short-term contract)?
WattClarity is one way we strive to help people make better decisions – by making the energy market clearer, and more understandable. Do you know of someone who can help us to expand the...
Long-term trend shows coal being crunched
A chart and a table presented today at FutureGAS highlighting how the dominance of coal in power generation across the NEM is starting to shift.
Autumn 2013 in the NEM
After an eventful summer 2012-13 in the NEM, where we saw a heatwave early in the season lead into flooding rains (again) – and a new “Best Demand Forecaster” crowned, we progressed into what...
Millmerran station trip drives prices sky high
At 23:05 on Saturday 9th March AEMO advised that the Millmerran power station units 1 and 2 tripped simultaneously at 22:07 (58 minutes prior) - for reasons still unknown. Here's how we saw it...
A late burst to summer in the south drives demand higher
Some high temperatures in Victoria and South Australia drive demand higher and, because of transmission constraints, the IRPM in the Economic Island lower.
Temperatures drive demand, and volatility, in Victoria and South Australia Monday 18th February
The price spiked yesterday (Monday 18th February) in South Australia and Victoria - here's an overview of what happened.
Sorted entries, in our annual “Best Demand Forecaster” competition for 2012-13
A clear view of who are the bears, and who are the bulls, in terms of where they have forecasted the peak demand for summer 2012-13 will finally land.
Scorching Sydney drives demand today into the red zone
A record of the extreme temperatures across NSW today, driving demand in NSW up towards the all-time electricity demand record set 23 months ago.
Some factors that contributed to the remarkable volatility in Queensland over the weekend
A starting list of a number of factors that combined to deliver sustained higher wholesale electricity prices in the Queensland region across the weekend of Saturday 12th January and Sunday 13th January 2013.
NEM-wide demand races past 31,500MW today
A record of the highest NEM-wide demand so far during summer 2012-13. A useful reference, for all of those who entered our "Best Demand Forecaster in the NEM" competition this time, and for those...
How extraordinary have Queensland’s recent electricity pricing patterns been?
After watching electricity spot prices in Queensland remain stubbornly high over the weekend, we invested some time today to assess the extent to which these price patterns had ever been seen before - in...
Demand (and price) remain stubbornly high in Queensland over the weekend
An extra-ordinary weekend in Queensland, where the mercury stays up and so does electricity demand and (as a result, plus with some help from other factors) so does price.
NEM-Wide demand peaked above 31,000MW on Friday
A record of a hot day that drove NEM-Wide demand to the highest level it has achieved (thus far) this summer. See this in context of historical maximum levels.
Queensland’s turn to sweat today, but NEM-wide demand plummets
A snapshot of a day of contrast - with high demand in Queensland (temperature driven) and extraordinarily low demand in the south.
Not even 41 degrees in Sydney today can drive demand close to a new record
The mercury in Sydney topped the 40 degree mark today, but demand did not climb to the heights it achieved when it set the record 2 summers ago.
A stinker today in the south – but demand barely wakes from the holiday slumber (and yet prices explode!)
A preliminary look at a number of events that happened today, leading to prices spiking to the Market Price Cap in a number of regions, Demand Side Response being very active, and trading desks...