Links to various other materials relating to the heat wave
The heatwave, and its effects on the NEM, certainly proved newsworthy. In this article, we provide a listing of the news coverage provided to the heatwave.
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.
Links to external reports relating to the blackout
Following from the blackout, several government bodies, and industry organisations completed reviews of the events leading up to the blackout. For completeness, these reports (at least, those we are aware of) have been listed...
March 2008 – Massive Heat-Wave hits SA & Victoria
In March 2008 (after summer had officially ended) South Australians were forced to endure a record 15 straight days of temperatures climbing above 35ºC. Victorians also experienced extreme heat for a number of days....
Summer 2006-2007 – Miscellaneous Articles
Over the period of summer 2006-07, we prepared a number of articles about other occasions of note in the NEM (in addition to the blackout of 16th January 2007, which has been written about...
Winter 2002
Events of Winter 2002 in the NEM.
Analysis of price volatility in the QLD region over summer 2007-08
Our Managing Director was asked to speak at the "Queensland Energy" conference in Brisbane on Wednesday 12th March - specifically addressing the topic of price volatility in the NEM. To provide the basis of...
Summer 2005-2006 – Miscellaneous Articles
Over the period of summer 2005-06, we prepared a number of articles about other occasions of note in the NEM. These articles are linked here.
Summer 2007-2008 – how did it impact on the NEM?
Summer 2007-08 was really a story of two different summers, with very mild temperatures experienced in the north (resulting in low levels of demand) but with sweltering temperatures in the south (and huge demand...
22nd and 23rd February 2008 – a rare hot spell in Queensland
In Queensland we experienced one of the mildest summers I can remember. As a result of this, demand levels were subdued for most of summer. However, for a couple of days in late February,...
Drought of 2007
Here’s some articles about the impact of the drought on the NEM – culminating in a stepped change in prices, and changes to dispatch patterns, etc…
Background information to the shortage of capacity in winter 2007
Following from the interest generated in the article published in the AFR, we completed some analysis of the trend in IRPM over the history of the NEM up until June 2007. The results of...
Winter 2007 – NEM-wide shortage of capacity
For two remarkable winter evenings in 2007 (19th and 20th June specifically) NEM-Wide Instantaneous Reserve Plant Margin (IRPM) plunged to the lowest levels ever seen in the NEM (a mere 7.6%) as generators were...
Second review of the blackout on Tuesday, 16th January 2007
Our second review was prepared in conjunction with the release of NEM-Watch version 7 (including the new NEM-Watch portal at www.NEM-Watch.info) in March 2007.
The ERIG Review ‘Energy Reform: The way forward for Australia’
Another belated and back-dated article – this one pertaining to another major reform initiative in the NEM, the ERIG Review.
Weekly summary of events in Summer 2006-2007
We compiled a week-by-week summary of interesting events that occurred in the NEM - from 19th November 2006 through until 16th January 2007 (the day of the blackout).
Our initial review of the blackout on Tuesday, 16th January 2007
Our first review, linked here, was prepared the night of the blackout itself, and provides a chronological history of events, as seen through the NEM-Watch™ application.
Nous Report, into blackout of 16th January 2007
Note about the NOUS Group report on the blackout in Victoria of 16th January 2007
16th January 2007 – Bushfires and Victoria’s blackout
Victoria experiences a large blackout in the afternoon and evening of 16 January 2007, when bush fires cause three main transmission lines to trip. This created chaos throughout much of Melbourne, and represented perhaps...
11th January 2007 – first spike in demand above 30,000MW
There was a temperature-driven spike in demand across the NEM later in the week beginning Sunday 7th January - culminating in the summer's first demand peak above 30,000MW (on Thursday 11th January). On this...
8th December 2006 – high demand in South Australia
There was a temperature-driven spike in demand in South Australia on Friday 8th December 2006. However, demand also spiked on other days in the week, and on those occasions did not lead to the...