About claims that AGL was responsible for the uplift in prices after Hazelwood closed
With another upsurge in interest in the effect of Hazelwood closure on price outcomes in the NEM, we’ve invested some time to provide these thoughts.
Energy Transition
The Network Investment Paradox
Guest author, Drew Donnelly, compares case studies of Argentine and Australia to highlight risks in under and over-investment in network infrastructure
Some thoughts about Demand Response, in parallel with AEMC deliberations
A collection of thoughts that have been bumping around in my head for some time about the latest push by various parties to facilitate a broader range of demand response in the NEM, and whether there are better options
Villain #6c – Demand Response is not a magic wand
A note of caution, that Demand Response is not a magic wand – it *can* achieve a lot, but if can’t be assumed to automatically appear to bridge any gap between supply and demand in a market model, for instance.
Villain #5d – obsessing about Negawatts, when the real objective is (broader) Demand Response
One more example of not focusing on the real problems seems to be a tendency for some to obsess about one narrow type of Demand Response (i.e. dispatch of NegaWatts) whilst seeming to lose focus of what the overall objective is (a more active and responsive demand side).
Lessons Learnt from Amber’s first summer of Spot Exposure in the NEM
Now that summer 2018-19 has passed, we can reflect on our experiences as a new entrant energy services company facilitating spot exposure for residential energy users – and hence expanding the scope for Demand Response in the NEM.
Villain #5c – too much focus on COST, not enough focus on VALUE
Some thoughts (triggered by the latest wave of focus on “cost” on social media this week) about why we need to rapidly shift our focus to what customers “value” and the market needs.
Large Solar in the NEM mainland regions
The growth of Large Solar in the NEM has been phenomenal, and a sign that things are changing quickly in the Australian energy industry. The chart attached is the maximum output of each region from Large Solar installations on a…
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.
Too much solar? For whom exactly?
Recently there have been a number of media reports of energy industry people talking about too much solar. One of our guest authors takes a look.
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 National Energy Summit), we note about Villain no5 as the next contributor to our transition running off the rails…
Lessons from the trenches – 10 tips for new entrant generation developers
Through our consulting business, Greenview Strategic Consulting, we have had the pleasure of working with a variety of new entrants and NEM-veteran organisations alike in the generation sector of the NEM over the past few years (along with other clients). …
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.
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
New hedging options emerge in the NEM as the energy transition accelerates
Our guest author, Dave Guiver from ERM Power, outlines some new options for hedging in relation to the influx of many new large-scale solar PV projects
Just because a company wears a “green halo”, that does not mean it can disrespect its potential customers [UPDATED]
An advertisement seen on TV in recent days from a (relatively) new entrant in the energy sector reinforces, to me, the need for the energy sector more broadly to do a much better job of respecting its prospective customers.
Power System Frequency – What is it doing? – Why does it matter?
The East Coast power system of Australia has the worst frequency regulation in the developed world. This puts the system at risk whenever an event occurs which requires the generators to respond quickly – they can’t respond quickly if they have to wait for the system frequency to go outside its control system dead band.
Short term forecasting of wind power plant generation for the provision of ancillary services
As NEM wind power plants progressively work towards implementing FCAS, the criticality of ensuring that the power system either a) takes account of the variability in the wind forecasts coming from the wind power plants in the coming 5-7 minutes and follows the wind direction, or b) sets an appropriate dispatch level to ensure wind variability is minimized, becomes even more important for market and power system operators.
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.
Grandfathers Axe or Low Hanging Fruit?
Upgrading our existing coal thermal fleet to increase efficiency and flexibility could provide a cost-effective opportunity to add dispatchable capacity and lower the overall carbon intensity of our electricity sector.