Brief recap on the historical trend in spot prices in the NEM
Some analysis of the way in which prices in the Australian National Electricity Market have trended over time, from as far back as 1994 (in the markets that...
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.
Miscellaneous Analysis
Posts that don’t fit neatly into any other category.
Historical Distributions in Spot Prices
Colourful distribution of spot prices - for each year of 11.5 years of NEM history. Clearly see the trend over time.
Prices see-saw over the full $13,250/MWh price range – but it’s all revised!
A record of how a day of see-sawing prices appeared (in real time) in NEM-Watch Note that the high prices have since been revised, but the low prices...
Background to Winter 2010 in the NEM
Inspired by the price spike experienced this evening, I have spent a little time to put together the background to winters in the NEM. This will be useful...
Winter 2010 in the NEM
Various articles about Winter 2010 in the NEM
Cold snap brings price spike in NSW
A price spike close to the Market Price Cap in NSW this evening provides an spur to do some quick analysis.
Escalating Capital Requirements
Some notes (which will be updated later) about capital requirements for the Australian Electricity Supply Industry
My synopsis of Opportunities & Threats for Energy Users
A high-level summary of some concerns of energy users, linked to a (progressively) growing number of more detailed posts that will be added over time.
Concerns of Energy Users
Here’s a growing collection of articles we’re putting together with respect to the concerns of energy users. These articles are informed by interaction with a wide range of...
Some context for the recent Basslink outage
I noted that the recent Basslink outage made the news today as a result of political point scoring in the Tasmanian parliament. As noted in the news report,...
AFR says “Emissions have fallen"! Here’s some more data…
Some analysis prompted by a short article in the AFR talking about a reduction in emissions over summer 2009-10 (with the possible implication being that emissions have turned...
VOLL (or MPC) in NSW today as high temperatures stretch supplies
A graphical summary of a day when temperatures soared in NSW, dragging demand higher and (with the assistance of a relative shortage of supplies) also dragging prices to...
Suspected Generator Trip forces prices close to MPC in QLD
Some quick notes about a price spike in QLD today.
New record electricity demand in Queensland today (Monday 18th)
Some pictorial records of a day when a new record demand was set in Queensland.
Ouch – VOLL in SA, close to midnight!
A snapshot of a price spike in SA late at night.
Hot weather moves north-eastwards, driving demand in NSW
A snapshot of a higher demand day in NSW, driven by higher temperatures as they move eastwards
Heatwave ramps up in southern Australia, dragging prices higher
Some notes about the heatwave in SA and VIC, and what it means for the NEM
Personal experiences with Distributed Energy Resources
A topic to collect articles about personal experiences with distributed energy resources
Temperature Spikes drive Demand higher this week
Some quick notes on what's happened in the NEM today (17th) and yesterday (16th)