Commencement of (testing) operations at Hunter (Kurri Kurri) GT in NSW
We saw first output from the HUNTER1 unit (the first of two at Snowy Hydro's new peaker) on Sunday 27th July 2025. So we're looking a little further, in this article.
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.
Reece Unit 1 returns to service after outage (coincident with fire onsite) … but Unit 2 outage lengthens
On Sunday 3rd Aug 2025 there (appears to have been) a fire at Reece Power Station, and both units tripped. We saw REECE1 return to service Friday evening, but REECE2 looks set for a...
Recapping operations at Waratah BESS (including enablement for SIPS) … to August 2025
The Waratah Super Battery System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) was enabled by TransGrid at last Friday 1st August 2025. This prompts this look back on operations thus far.
Would it even be possible – to operate the NEM to achieve 82% renewable energy in 2030 (if the Semi-Scheduled category continues in its current form)?
Yesterday's release of the draft report of the Nelson Review has prompted me to re-frame a question I've asked before about the Semi-Scheduled category.
Video recording of presentation by the Nelson Review panel (on Wed 6th Aug 2025), hosted by The Energy, available now
Yesterday (Wed 6th Aug 2025) we saw the draft report from the ‘Nelson Review’ Panel released ... followed by a presentation by the panel members facilitated by The Energy. The recording of this webinar...
Draft Report from the ‘Nelson Review’ Panel is released, on Wednesday 6th August 2025
In yesterday’s wrap of the past 5 weeks, I’d noted that Tim Nelson (when speaking at #ACES2025 last Tuesday) said that the Panel had not quite finished the draft report, but it was ‘imminent’....
Possible Fire at Reece Power Station – units out of service
Following a tip from a WattClarity reader, we take a quick look at a forced outage for both units at the Reece (hydro) Power Station in Tasmania ... possibly related to an apparent fire...
Catching up, after ~5 weeks away … what (else) did I miss?
It’s Tuesday 5th August 2025, my second day back in the office – and this is my first article on WattClarity since this article on Friday 27th June 2025. In this article I've invested...
How low did it go? NEM-wide wind production in recent days
We've already noted the ‘New all-time record for NEM-wide wind, on Monday 23rd June 2025’. But how low did wind production drop, on Thursday 26th June 2025?
Next steps in two big market changes (in terms of transparency)
Worth a short note today (Friday 27th June 2025) to note the publication of MN127877 – which references two market changes that will improve market transparency for all types of participants
Past 3 hours of continuous volatility on Thursday evening 26th June 2025
Considering that it was 16:45 (NEM time) when volatility started it’s notable that we’re into our 4th hour of volatility now on Thursday evening 26th June 2025.
Evening volatility ongoing (Thursday 26th June 2025), with NEM-wide ‘Market Demand’ above 31,000MW
A further update on the volatility and high demand seen on Thursday evening 26th June 2025.
Run of evening volatility starts early, on Thursday 26th June 2025
Here’s a NEMwatch snapshot at 16:50 (NEM time) on Thursday 26th June 2025 with the run of volatility in the southern regions already well underway.
Cold weather drives electricity ‘Market Demand’ higher (and higher than AEMO’s earlier forecasts)
I thought it would be worth adding a couple snapshots from the ‘Forecast Convergence’ widget in ez2view looking at ‘Market Demand’ as at various dispatch intervals on Thursday 26th June 2025 looking backwards ~7...
Morning volatility in the southern regions – Thursday 26th June 2025
Here’s a snapshot from NEMwatch at 07:25 to record some morning volatility on Thursday 26th June 2025
Opaque Congestion and Hidden Curtailment … such as on Tue 24th June 2024 with the ‘N-DPWG_63_X5’ constraint set invoked
It was now just over 5 years ago when Marcelle wrote ‘Not as simple as it appears – estimating curtailment of renewable generation’. This week's invocation of the 'N-DPWG_63_X5' constraint set provides a great...
Loy Yang A2 apparent trip from 443MW on Wednesday 25th June 2025
A very short midday article on Wednesday 25th June 2025 noting this apparent trip of LYA2 unit from 443MW just prior to 11:31 (NEM time).
ENTSO-E is also investigating the 28th April 2025 blackout on the Iberian Peninsula
For those interested in ‘what happened, why and what should be done about it’ with respect to the 28th April 2025 blackout on the Iberian Peninsula, ENTSO-E is also investigating.
Unplanned outage of Darlington Point – Wagga No.63 330 kV line
At 17:44 yesterday (Monday 23rd June 2025) the AEMO issued MN127743 noting an unplanned outage of Darlington Point - Wagga No.63 330 kV line (leading to the ‘N-DPWG_63_X5’ constraint set being invoked)
A 409MW drop in ‘Market Demand’ in Victoria on Tuesday 24th June 2025
Another short article about a large change in demand – this one being a 409MW drop in ‘Market Demand’ to the 12:10 dispatch interval (NEM time) on Tuesday 24th June 2025.