Spot gas prices hit $20/GJ on Tuesday 6th July
A short record of gas prices being up at $20/GJ and above through a cold spell for winter, with other factors at work.
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.
NEM-wide scheduled demand exceeds 31,000MW and IRPM drops to 11.93% on Monday 5th July 2021
Quick notes about the winter evening peak in demand on Monday 5th July 2021
Price volatility in the QLD region on Saturday 3rd July 2021
A rainy Saturday morning reminds us the price volatility for Q2 in QLD has not totally gone away ... with elevated prices for ENERGY and also Contingency FCAS (Raise 6 second and Raise 60...
Here’s one reason why the market was blindsided by high average prices in Q2 2021
Here's one big reason why the high outcome for Q2 time-weighted average spot prices were so far away from the (much lower) expectations in all 4 regions at the start of the quarter.
Yallourn unit 4 back online on Friday 2nd July 2021
On Friday evening (2nd July 2021) Yallourn 4 returned to service
Looking back at a Q2 2021 period that’s been anything but boring
Now making it 5 out of the past 6 years, we return to the analysis of electricity (spot and futures) pricing patterns for Q2 periods across the NEM regions ... and also in Western...
Return to service date for Callide C3 now expected Friday 9th July 2021
An updated view of the return to service schedule of Callide C3 and C4 ... along with Yallourn unit 4.
AEMC publishes draft determination on application to lower Registration threshold for Generators
On Thursday last week the AEMC published a Draft Determination in response to an application by AEC to combat one form of 'Villain #8' in relation to Registration of generators under the mandatory 30MW...
Yallourn unit 2 restarts on Sunday 27th June
Yallourn now has 3 units back online, with return-to-service (RTS) of Yallourn unit 2 on Sunday 27th June 2021.
Gas issues and low wind contribute to low NEM-wide IRPM (and volatility) on Monday 21st June 2021
A short article marking (yet) another volatile evening in the NEM in this 'elephant' of a Q2 2021... now with some added challenges for gas-fired generation.
Using ‘MT PASA DUID Availability’ widget in ez2view to compare unit availability with expectations prior to Q2 2021
Following Saturday's review of changed expectations for Callide Power Station and Yallourn Power Station, I took a look at aggregate expectation by fuel type. Here's a belated article with the results.
Villain #8 – the ‘Invisible Man’
A few recent developments have prompted this article about Villain no8, a villain initially contemplated prior to my 'forecast of sorts' back at Clean Energy Summit in July 2017.
Yallourn unit 3 scheduled return to service on Tuesday 22nd June
After taking a quick look at the Callide units, we've also used ez2view to have a quick look at the Yallourn units to see when they are scheduled to return.
Return to service slips further, for Callide B2
A quick look this afternoon sees that the return to service for Callide B2 has been delayed a few days since I last looked during the week.
Newport Power Station cranked up heavily – as one commercial response to the Yallourn ‘Energy Emergency’
A series of questions about what's happening at Newport Power Station prompted me to have a quick look...
Kogan Creek returns to service on Thursday 17th June 2021
A short note about return to service of Kogan Creek power station early this morning.
Callide B1 back online Wednesday afternoon, 16th June
A short note to follow up on the welcome return-to-service of Callide B1.
Availability of Black Coal units has suffered through Q2 2021
The volatility that has been with us for weeks now (particularly QLD and NSW), and the dramas unfolding at Callide power station, prompted me to have a broader look at the availability of black...
Yallourn unit 3 back offline again
Late yesterday I noted how the situation at Yallourn was more complex than we had been initially thinking, so it was no surprise to see Yallourn unit 3 come back offline early this morning...
Where’s Callide B1?
With expectations set last week that Callide B1 would be back online yesterday at minimum load, I've had a quick look and can't see it yet...