Winter 2009
Miscellaneous articles on activity in the NEM during winter 2009.
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.
First Spike in Demand this Winter As Temperatures Plunge
On Wednesday 10th June 2009, temperatures plunged across the NEM for the first time this winter, providing a long-awaited dump of snow to start the season, and driving electricity demand high.
November in the NEM (a review of 10 years of history)
One of 12 articles on the months past in the NEM - investigating the trends and significant events in the National Electricity Market during November.
October in the NEM (a review of 10 years of history)
One of 12 articles on the months past in the NEM - in which we examine the trends in price and demand across the NEM for the month of October.
Earth Hour 2009 – Impact on Australia’s National Electricity Market
The third Earth Hour event has yet again spurred fierce debate. As commentators come to accept the fact that Earth Hour is a largely symbolic occasion, the question is raised - what needs to...
Earth Hour 2008 – Impact on Australia’s National Electricity Market
In 2008 Earth Hour spread across Australia (and the globe), inciting further participation and debate. In this article we compare reported energy usage statistics with demand data from regions across the NEM, and consider...
Earth Hour
“Earth Hour” was a concept developed by the WWF to promote awareness of the risks of climate change. It first ran just in Sydney in 2007, and generated considerable interest, on both sides of...
Earth Hour 2007 – Impact on Australia’s National Electricity Market
Since the first event in Sydney, 2007, Earth Hour has been held at the same time on two successive years, with an increasing number of locations around the world participating - and still continues...
Training about the NEM
Educational resources on Australia’s National Electricity Market.
Australian Power & Carbon Day, London (UK) Wenesday 4th February 2009
A seminar at which you will be able to gain a first-hand account of how the current heatwave in VIC and SA is impacting on the physical market, and what it means for the...
Massive Demand, Huge Prices, Load Shedding and the Cumulative Price Threshold (and lessons learnt?)
Wednesday 28th January saw demand across the NEM jump to unprecedented levels, setting a new record of 34,843MW at 16:00 NEM time. On Thursday 29th January, we saw the demand increase still further, leading...
And the winner for summer 08-09 is…
We noted yesterday, in the midst of the excitement, that the previous NEM-wide demand record had been beaten, by virtue of the heatwave assaulting VIC and SA over the day. We spoke too soon,...
New record all-time NEM-wide demand (and for VIC and SA) today!
The day is not over yet, but we thought you would be interested in the attached snapshot highlighting the first of the occasions on the day when prices jumped to VOLL in SA and...
New record summer demand!
We watched with interest today as demand crept up in all mainland regions to the point where the NEM-Wide demand rose slightly above 33,000MW for the first time ever, during a summer period.
SA nears the Cumulative Price Threshold
On 19th January, high prices were sustained in SA for several hours, bringing the Cumulative Price within a whisker of the $150,000 threshold, at which prices would be capped.
Summer 2008-09 to date
Given that the holidays are now over (for most of us) and we're returning back to "normal" life, we thought it would be a good time to provide a brief overview of what's happened...
Summary of entries received for 2008-2009
An overview of the final range of estimates received for the peak demand guessing competition of summer 2008-2009.
Record summer demand in NSW yesterday!
NSW experienced a record summer demand on Thursday 15th January, driven by high temperatures across the state. The extreme weather experienced in NSW followed the extreme weather that swept across South Australia and Victoria...
A hot day in SA yesterday, and prices soared!
Just as had been forecast, Tuesday 13th January 2009 saw hot, dry weather roll in across South Australia, and then into Victoria. The high temperatures caused demand to climb, but not to the level...
September in the NEM (a review of 10 years of history)
One of 12 articles on the months past in the NEM. Here we examine the trends in price and demand across the NEM for September, and take a closer look at the effects of...