About Emissions Reduction
A topic containing miscellaneous articles covering aspects of emissions reduction technologies (including renewables) and schemes (including the CPRS, Emissions Trading and the Carbon Tax).
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.
Winter 2008
Miscellaneous articles on activity in the NEM during winter 2008.
Dependence on gas supplies in the NEM
Our Managing Director spoke at the "Australian Energy & Utility Summit 08" in Sydney on Tuesday 22nd July 2008, touching on a number of issues including the Emissions Trading System and the possible emergence...
NSW winter peak demand forecasts
Our Managing Director spoke at the "Australian Energy & Utility Summit 08" in Sydney on Tuesday 22nd July 2008, touching on a number of issues including the nature of peak demand forecasts (for winter...
Prices depressed in the NEM – Winter 2008
Our Managing Director spoke at the "Australian Energy & Utility Summit 08" in Sydney on Tuesday 22nd July 2008, touching on a number of issues including the depressed prices experienced in winter 2008.
Volatility in the market over winter 2007
Our Managing Director spoke at the "Australian Energy & Utility Summit 08" in Sydney on Tuesday 22nd July 2008, touching on issues including the extremes of price volatility that were experienced over winter 2007.
“Power Prices Jump in Eye of the Storm”, from the AFR
Following from an alert to the situation provided by NEM-Watch, Duncan Hughes published an article "Power Price Jump in Eye of the Storm" that mentioned the extremely low levels of NEM-Wide Instantaneous Reserve Plant...
Cost of congestion to energy users
For the EUAA's Members Meeting (held in Brisbane on 24th April 2008), our Managing Director was invited to provide of a précis of the presentation he previously provided at the "QLD Energy" conference (on...
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.
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...