Who was the winner of our competition for LinkingIn to WattClarity?
Rather than just drawing a lucky winner out of a hat, or using a random number generator, someone suggested we take a different approach – and here are the results.
Articles by Paul McArdle
One of three founders of Global-Roam back in 2000, Paul has been CEO of the company since that time.
As an author on WattClarity, Paul's focus has been to help make the electricity market more understandable.
Performance of wind farms, to date in 2013
Here’s a view of how daily wind farm production (by region, and NEM-wide) has trended over the 2013 calendar year to date – the correlation of output on a daily basis, and the contribution towards regional and NEM-wide demand
Queensland lunchtime demand slips away….
Today (Wednesday 24th July) we note how the Queensland lunchtime electricity demand is stuck in the blue zone – the uptake of solar PV, and a sunny day for Clean Energy Week, would be part of the reason.
Daily wind generation does not seem to be close to 90% of South Australia’s supplies–are we missing something?
Wind generation on some days in the past 2 weeks supplied a big percentage of SA demand – but not (on a daily basis, at least) near the 90% level.
Animation of several hours over the evening of Saturday 12th January 2013 in Queensland
Here’s another animated case study of one more interesting time that occurred through summer 2013 in Queensland – on this occasion the evening of Saturday 12th January 2013.
Quick quiz – how many do you get right, about what happened in the Queensland Region over summer 2013?
Five thought-provoking questions about what really happened in Queensland over summer 2013 – and the supplementary question about what it all means for the future.
Revisiting 2nd January 2013 in Queensland – to illustrate the interaction of rebidding and constraints
Beginning prior to 7am and progressing through the morning of Wednesday 2nd January 2013, there was significant volatility in the Queensland region of the National Electricity Market – including four spikes at or above $1,000/MWh.
Here’s a walk-through of how it unfolded, with some pointers to some of the contributing factors.
Wild price gyrations in Victoria (and elsewhere) today following a station trip at Yallourn
An animation of 90 minutes this morning where the price gyrated wildly in response to a trip at Yallourn, and numerous subsequent reactions by market participants and the AEMO.
Chilly winter evenings show demand has declined for various reasons – not just solar PV
A cold evening in the NEM, and yet demand can’t make it past 30,000MW – which would have been quite startling 4 or 5 years ago (but not now, as demand has been declining for a number of reasons).
Queenslanders boil (the kettle) during Origin loss
It appears, from this high-level analysis, that events in the State of Origin mapped to changes in electricity demand across Brisbane last night.
Prices yo-yo in SA this morning, as installed capacity goes missing
Following yesterday’s warnings about the potential for a tight supply/demand balance in South Australia this week, it was not really a surprise when the SMS alerts from NEM-Watch began buzzing for the 07:20 dispatch interval this morning (NEM time), highlighting that the dispatch price in SA had jumped to $12,199.20/MWh. This has continued through the morning.
Load shed warning (LOR3) issued by AEMO for Tuesday in South Australia
It’s not looking that great, currently, for the supply/demand balance in South Australia this week – when viewing predispatch, ST PASA and AEMO’s Market Notices
Winter 2013 in the NEM
A collection of analysis, observations and commentary about what we see (and have time to comment on) in terms of winter 2013 in Australia’s National Electricity Market
The return of the evening price spikes as the winter demand shape arrives a little early
The distinctive winter demand shape returns – and with it comes the evening peaks in prices (even on a Sunday).
A chilly autumn morning drives demand higher in Tasmania
Tasmania shivers this morning, driving electricity demand higher
Why are we completing this extensive review of what happened over a very volatile summer in QLD – and why, and what the future implications might be?
Why are we investing significant time in completing this review of what was remarkable price volatility in QLD over summer? We’re primarily a software company that develops shrink-wrapped products used by about 100 market participants, spectators and commentators.
Areas of deeper analysis
Posting commentary on WattClarity meets certain customer needs – but there are occasions where deeper analysis is warranted (and requested by our customers). Where we publish more comprehensive reports, they will be listed here.
Morning price spikes in SA with no wind or coal
Augurs to be an interesting day in South Australia today, with two (now three) price spikes already this morning – due in part to no supplies from coal, or from wind.
Retail Electricity Prices
Historically most of our posts have been based on observations about the wholesale market. More recently we have also begun to have a look at retail prices, more directly. Here’s some articles on the topic.
What’s caused the drop in brown coal production?
Prompted by a reader’s question, we provide some further analysis into which brown coal plants have been declining output in recent times, and why this might be the case.