Australian Chart of the week | Got your money; wind shaking up the merchant revenue order?

Ideal weather conditions for wind and solar across the NEM in recent weeks saw renewables hit new highs in the National Electricity Market (NEM). A recent update from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) indicated that around noon on the 20th of August, wind and solar contributed 11.7GW – 46.5% – of total energy for that settlement period. This new record surpassed the previous record of 11.3GW from November 2019 by 400MW.

With wind and solar increasingly displacing dispatchable generation assets, what impact is this having on merchant revenues for different generation types in the NEM? In this chart of the week, we investigate the impact the energy transition is having on merchant revenues by generation type in New South Wales (NSW).  To fully appreciate the rate at which the transition is occurring in the merchant market, we analyse the change by fuel type.

To keep reading, please log in to your account or sign up for free

Alternatively, please sign up to receive free market insight online and direct to your inbox

Related thinking

Low carbon generation

Analysing earlier coal retirement in Victoria: What does it take for more emission reduction?

AEMO has recently published the 2022 Integrated System Plan (ISP), which provides an energy transition roadmap for the National Electricity Market (NEM). This ISP focuses on the “Step Change” scenario, which reflects strong action on climate change leading to a step change reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, based on the...

Energy storage and flexibility

“Each day looking for new ways to go on”: could a renewable capacity market assist hydrogen turbines?

The rise of renewables has seen the need for additional firming capacity in order to smooth renewable output and replace coal capacity in the evening peak. The ESB and federal Ministers are currently in discussions regarding the development (or not) of a capacity market for the NEM. Interestingly from the...

Commercial and market outlook

Do batteries add viability to electrolysers within the current market?

Last month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that there will be a gas shortfall in the east coast market in 2023, not a surprise considering the international gas crisis and high gas prices in Australia. Such events have increased attention towards expanding gas supply or reducing the...

Commercial and market outlook

Recent events push NEM turnover to new heights

The story of recent times in the NEM has been the significant escalation of wholesale price outcomes in the market. As discussed repeatedly, elevated fuel costs for gas and supply constraints in the market have sent NEM turnover to uncharted territory. By NEM turnover, we refer to the total costs...

Commercial and market outlook

Big Battery, even bigger revenues

The Victorian Big Battery (VBB) in Geelong, Victoria, is currently the largest commissioned battery in the NEM at 300 MW/450 MWh. In Q2 2022, VBB, and its owner Neoen, posted an estimated AEMO wholesale net revenue of just over $13 million for the three-month period. It is important to note...

Commercial and market outlook

Elevated Wholesale Price in the NEM: QLD on the verge of triggering Administered Price Cap (APC) again

The Administered Price Cap (APC) was triggered for the first state on 12 June at 6:55 am as a result of QLD breaching the Cumulative Price Threshold (CPT) of $1,359,100 for the rolling 7-day period. This caused the withdrawal of capacities by gas generators that could not recover fuel costs...

Commercial and market outlook

Gas generation on the move

Gas and electricity prices in Australia are unavoidably linked, particularly in the evening peaks where the gas generators have increased capability to set the price. Due to the recent spike in global gas prices, there has been a distinct change in gas generator bidding strategy resulting in an increase in...

E-mobility and low carbon

Do network operators dream of electric vehicles?

With more models entering the Australian car market and high prices at the bowser, electric vehicles (EVs) are garnering more attention from both cost-aware and environmentally conscious consumers alike. In this context, AEMO’s forecasts predict a not-too-distant future where EVs outnumber combustion-driven vehicles.  In fact, in AEMO’S 2022 Integrated System...