What happened yesterday (Fri 20th Dec 2019) in the Victorian Region? A first look…
A first look back at yesterday (Friday 20th December 2019) in the Victorian region - where we saw extreme temperatures, high demand across VIC and SA and (perhaps...
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.
Not-So-Quick review of price spike in South Australian region yesterday (Thu 19th Dec) evening
Took 2-3 times longer than planned (as there were a few different interesting observations that came out) but here is our initial - and perhaps only! - review...
Sweating on the return of Loy Yang A Unit 2
Taking a quick look at what's forecast for the Victorian region tomorrow, with LOR2-level Low Reserve Condition forecast.
High temperatures drive Queensland Scheduled Demand over 9,400MW
With Queensland temperatures (even at the Brisbane airport) exceeding 40 degrees Celcius today, the electricity demand was also high - though still below the all-time record.
The (ongoing!) opacity of distributed, small-scale solar PV output
42 months after I posted some initial thoughts about "the opacity of rooftop PV" it seems that - when viewed in certain ways, discussed here - the problem...
Exploring AEMO’s demand forecast “error” for Saturday 26th October 2019
Four weeks ago, we observed a significant discrepancy between AEMO's forecast for (what would have been) a record low point for Scheduled Demand in South Australia and what...
Probability, Consequence (and Risk) as it relates to summer 2019-20 in the NEM
With summer 2019-20 fast approaching, we'll use the refresher on the two core components of risk (probability and consequence) to unpick what the real issue is with respect...
Analytical challenge – recognising the separate components in Risk, and their influence
A simple refresher on two core components that combine in order to define risk - probability and consequence.
First look at South Australia islanded on Saturday evening, 16th Nov 2019
A first (and perhaps only - as this took longer than initially planned) walk through some of the interesting points of what happened yesterday (Sat 16th Nov 2019)...
Two big reasons why we’re engaging in forensic analysis of NEM events
There are a number of reasons why we're completing the analysis we are sharing via WattClarity - here are two big ones.
3rd Case Study – Tailem Bend Solar Farm in SA Region on Wednesday 6th November 2019
Third case study in a growing series - on this occasion looking at the (extreme - and possibly excessive?) lengths taken by Tailem Bend Solar Farm to avoid...
Do you know of people who can help us?
Readers at WattClarity might recall that we have asked the question above a couple of times in recent weeks – and a big thanks to those who responded...
South Australia experiences lowest (non System Black) Scheduled Demand in at least 21 years
Lowest point seen today since the start of the NEM (excluding the SA System Black) for the South Australian region.
Second Case Study (Daydream Solar Farm on Tuesday 3rd September 2019) – another eventful day
Our second Case Study in a recent series, aimed to help us explore ways to continue the pushing the development of ez2view forward, but also shared with readers...
AEMO forecasts new “lowest ever” demand today in South Australia – but misses by 200MW
A quick look at what would have been a new "lowest ever" point for SA Scheduled Demand today at 12;30 ... if the AEMO forecast had held to...
All aboard the Negawatt Express … but where are we really headed?
Better late than never (perhaps?) today I post a few thoughts about the AEMC's proposed draft rule change for the incorporation of NegaWatts into centralized dispatch.
‘Duck Curve’ delivers declining Minimum Demand levels in South Australia
An email alert from NEMwatch (noting Scheduled Demand under 500MW in South Australia today) distracts us, and prompts us to dig a little deeper at the longer-term trend.
A day in the life of a large-scale Solar Farm in the NEM –a Case Study of Ross River Solar Farm on Thursday 10th October 2019
Thursday 10th October 2019 presented another day of many negative price events in the QLD region. In this Case Study (prepared for dual purposes) we look at how...
Investments in increasing the flexibility of Coal-Fired Power
Some operations at Stanwell Power Station unit 1 in the past couple weeks caught our attention, and are presented as a useful illustration of some concepts related to...
Some observations about Storage
Last minute complications mean that I cannot speak at today's "Queensland Smart Energy Summit" (with Jonathon Dyson being an even better substitute). Here are some of the observations...