Villain #6–reaching for (or believing in) a “Magic Wand”
We've noted what seems to be an increasing tendency of all of us to reach for some form of "magic wand" as a cure-all for the vexed challenges confronting us in this energy transition.
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.
What’s the impact of rooftop solar PV on local distribution network voltage–and its significance?
Replacement of yet another blown LED at home on the weekend prompted me to dive into some historical voltage readings (made accessible through our Solar Analytics subscription). I present some results here, and hope...
Hot weather in Queensland to drive Electricity Demand high this week (and warning of LOR2 Low Reserve Condition)
Temperature forecasts are for hot weather in Queensland early this week - which means AEMO is forecasting high demand in the QLD region. With this, they are alerting on a forecast LOR2 Low Reserve...
We’re preparing an extensive “Generator Report Card”, and would welcome discussion (with your pre-orders)
Following from (what we have seen as) an increase in diversity of concerns (and claims) about different aspects of generator performance, we're leveraging our extensive data set and capabilities to have a deeper look,...
Scheduled Demand in South Australia drops to 536MW, an all-time* record minimum in the afternoon of Sunday 21st October 2018
Based on a tip from a savvy WattClarity reader, we have a quick look at what turned out to be the lowest-ever (normal) instance of Scheduled Demand on a dispatch target basis in the...
Villain #5 – not focusing on the real problems
Fifteen months after first speaking at Clean Energy Summit about the train wreck that's ongoing in terms of our mismanaged energy transition (and coincident with another industry gathering in the form of the AFR...
A case study in Active Management at a Semi-Scheduled plant – Tuesday 24th July 2018 at Lake Bonney 2 Wind Farm
A detailed look at two specific trading periods in the day (Tuesday 24th July 2018) that saw negative dispatch prices occur at the start of trading periods - hence provided a case study for...
Further analysis of the (very rare) double-islanding events of Saturday 25th August 2018
The multi-region islanding event on Saturday 25th August was a very rare event - perhaps the only one's that occurred in the history of the NEM. It has generated plenty of questions - and...
Taking a look at Saturday’s Islanding Event through 4 second SCADA data
Following on from Saturday's islanding event, we use our current interest in AEMO's 4-second SCADA data to prove a little more...
Both QLD and SA islanded from the rest of the NEM on Saturday 25th August 2018
Both the QNI and the Heywood interconnectors tripped around the same time on Saturday 25th August 2018 (not apparent at this time which one was first, and why), leading to both QLD and SA...
Confirmation of yesterday’s supposition that some wind farms are blinking in the face of negative prices
A brief follow on from yesterday's post, with the advantage of being able to review yesterday's bids (and rebids) today.
The “Wind Correlation Penalty” bites in South Australia, and some wind farmers appear to blink
The past week, with wind farm output blowing gangbusters in South Australia (coupled with low demand and System Strength requirements) we seen the "Wind Correlation Penalty" start to bite, with some reactions also beginning...
Different approaches for dispatch
Highlighting the different approaches taken to cost/price based dispatch in an interconnected electricity system (or market).
Beginner’s Guide to how dispatch works in the NEM, and hence how prices are set
Walking through 5 (much simplified) "Dispatch Intervals" to illustrate some starting principles of marginal price based dispatch arrangements, such as used in the National Electricity Market
Helping to tame Villain #4 by understanding more about MLFs
Conversations in the week following my post about "Villain #4" (being the deficit in required Energy Literacy) prompted some analysis relating to Marginal Loss Factors
Villain #4 – the yawning gap between our Sector-Wide Aggregate “Energy Literacy” and what we require
A year after I first spoke about "Villains" playing a role in the train wreck of our energy transition, I've finally found some time to post about Villain #4.
AEMO released 2018 Integrated System Plan (ISP)
A back-dated article about the AEMO's 2018 ISP
Monday 9th July sees yo-yo prices in South Australia
Some brief analysis of today's price volatility seen in the South Australian region of the NEM
Reviewing the pattern of spot prices for Q2 2018 suggests that we’re far from out of the woods, yet
Returning to the theme of analysis of Q2 prices (completed in 2017 and 2016 due to Q2 historically being an uneventful period) we see that prices have backed off from the "off the charts"...
Further thoughts on the emergence of the “Solar Correlation Penalty”
Some further thoughts on what we've termed a "Solar Correlation Penalty" which point-view of some specific dispatch intervals seems to suggest is occurring