Winter 2012 in the NEM
An assortment of articles covering events happening during Winter 2012
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.
Flooded Yallourn turns Victoria to an importer
Some brief analysis of the floods at Yallourn Power Station.
… so who won the competition for summer 2011-12 as “Best Demand Forecaster”
Demand was lacklustre but we've still given an impressive BBQ away to our competition winner for this summer....
Recapping NEM-Wide demand (or the lack thereof) over summer
Some summary points about how NEM-Wide demand across the NEM over summer 2011-12 was surprisingly low, with a very low peak achieved.
Hydro generation increases with La Nina
An article recently in one of the main papers about increased flows down the Snowy River prompted the question, internally, about how much the La Nina pattern of the past 24 months had impacted...
A hot Saturday could have driven demand higher – but how much?
A quick look at the demand levels on Saturday 25th driven by hot weather in VIC and SA. What would have happened had this been on a weekday?
Yes, the demand did peek above 30,000MW
Looking further (after making the first post today) I see that the demand did rise above 30,000MW across the Australian National Electricity Market today - still a very low level for the highest demand...
Hot in VIC and SA – but demand not climbing past the green zone
High temperatures in Victoria and South Australia - but demand is still well down on the all-time records for those regions.
No joy for generators as demand stays low
NEM-wide demand is still to crack the 30,000MW barrier (which used to be fairly commonplace several summers ago). This is not providing good news for generators.
Summer continues, but demand has not (yet?) arrived
By now our schools are full again, and businesses are back at work – so it is timely to review how electricity demand in the NEM trended through the holiday months of December and...
How has demand trended, so far this summer
A quick look at how NEM-wide demand has trended so far this summer (to define the starting point for our competition entrants). This brief look raises questions about the demand seen in December 2011,...
Queensland demand continues to climb – towards the all-time maximum
Some snapshots of the market this afternoon, focused on the QLD region as demand continues to climb on a hot day this summer.
Updated (and complete) list of entries in our competition for summer 2011-12
After adding in a few entries that we'd inadvertently missed (from a few people very keen for a BBQ) we have updated the sorted results table, and also the analysis.
Entries in our competition for summer 2011-12
What can we learn from the spread of entries received in our "Best Demand Forecaster in the NEM" competition, for summer 2011-12? We've done some analysis here to help...
Summer 2011-12
Analysis of what’s been happening in the NEM over summer 2011-12.
A 30-year historical window presents a different picture of demand
Including more than a decade of data for Queensland's peak electricity demand (pre-NEM) reveals a more nuanced picture.
Has the demand pattern been different on a regional basis?
Extending our analysis of the pattern of demand growth (NEM-Wide) to see if the pattern has been the same at a regional level.
Some possible reasons why demand is declining
A list of 10 factors that are impacting on electricity consumption across the National Electricity Market.
How is demand changing in the NEM?
Further analysis of the way that electricity demand patterns (NEM-wide) are changing in Australia's National Electricity Market
What happened to demand, this winter?
A brief summary of NEM-wide demand this winter