Interconnector constraints and limits–an explainer, and a few traps
Limits on interconnectors play a key role in setting regional prices in the NEM. Marcelle finds a number of traps when interpreting the market data.
energy literacy
Explaining dispatch (and price setting) regarding Eraring Unit 2 on 30th May 2022
A question on Twitter from Benny Beatts (about dispatch of Origin’s Eraring unit 2 on Monday 30th May) illustrates why price setting is not as simple as adding up bids that are dispatched.
Who gets to run when everyone bids the same? A crash course in disorderly bidding and tie-breaking
Marcelle explores the little-understood concept in NEM dispatch of the tie-break principle, using the new ‘Constraint Dashboard’ widget in ez2view.
How does a wind or solar farm make money?
This is the third of a short series of video snippets extracted from the 17th September 2020 presentation by Marcelle Gannon and Jonathon Dyson for the Clean Energy Council entitled ‘Maximising Profitability in the NEM’ for Wind Farms.
Constraint Case Study Followup – Early outcomes of the new “X5 constraint”
On 25th November, guest author Allan O’Neil examined the ‘X5 Constraint’. Two weeks of operation have passed, so now Allan reviews some of what’s happened.
Do you know your obligations as a Semi-Scheduled Generator?
This is the first of a short series of video snippets extracted from the 17th September 2020 presentation by Marcelle Gannon and Jonathon Dyson for the Clean Energy Council entitled ‘Maximising Profitability in the NEM’ for Wind Farms.
Case Study – How to interpret a new NEM constraint and guess what it might do
Given the great interest in the new ‘X5 constraint’, guest author, Allan O’Neil, has invested some time to pick the new constraint equation to understand (and then explain) what it is, how likely it will be to bind, and who is likely to be affected.
What’s “Primary Frequency Response” and why does it matter anyway?
Paul McArdle recently drew my attention to a short Twitter thread started by David Osmond on the arcane topic of NEM system frequency behaviour: At Paul’s invitation I’ve dived further into this issue to fill in some background, provide…
How Retailers Use Contracts to Hedge Customers
Guest author, Warwick Forster, provides an explanation of some of the common ways that retailers hedge their risk exposure in the National Electricity Market
More on those negative prices – how do contracts affect bidding behaviour?
Guest author Allan O’Neil provides this handy explainer on how generators’ contract positions affect their bidding decisions and can make negative spot prices pay off, at least in the short term. Very useful for those readers not actively involved in wholesale trading in helping to understand why some conspiracy theories might not match reality.
ConfUSEd by the ESOO? You’re not alone.
I’d rather not add to the number of conspiracy theories in circulation, but I wonder if there’s a conspiracy to make understanding our electricity system in general, and its reliability in particular, as difficult as humanly possible. There’s no doubt…
Price Setting Concepts – an Explainer
Guest author, Allan O’Neil, contributes to our series of articles explaining how prices are set the the NEM (as part of how dispatch works). In this article, Allan explains some of the details in the AEMO’s “Price Setter” file.
My recent presentation: “Power system control or market control of a power system”
Guest presenter, Kate Summers, spoke at UoM Climate and Energy College on 15th August 2018, with the presentation recorded. Kate shares this today with WattClarity readers.
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.
An explainer about electricity demand [take 1]
Following from a steady stream of questions we receive in relation to a range of our products (but in particular with respect to “the RenewEconomy Widget”) we’ve invested some time to put this post together to explain some of what we understand about electricity demand.
Let’s Keep Talking About FCAS
Following on from the Let’s Talk About FCAS post, the focus of this post is the business case and subsequent optimisation challenge for getting involved in FCAS, now that the technical performance components have been mostly addressed.
Power station ‘trips’ are normal, but blackouts are not
Understanding the difference between blackouts, generator trips and intermittent generation and how these events are managed.