Saturday 4 July 2026
Trading day 2026-07-04
South Australian prices double the NEM average as Queensland sees negative intervals
Daily average prices ranged from 52.30 dollars in Queensland to 120.10 dollars in South Australia, reflecting a broad geographic spread. New South Wales and Victoria settled at 70.10 dollars and 68.10 dollars respectively, while Tasmania averaged 64.80 dollars per megawatt hour. Queensland experienced 122 negative price intervals, contrasting with South Australia where the minimum price remained at 55.00 dollars.
Coal dominated the generation mix at 55.3 percent, followed by wind at 13.2 percent and combined solar at 16.1 percent. Total renewable penetration reached an instantaneous peak of 62.1 percent at 12:15, while hydro and gas contributed 7.5 percent and 4.9 percent. Batteries provided 2.5 percent of total dispatch, with 15,705 megawatt hours discharged to the grid throughout the day.
Regional demand peaked highest in New South Wales at 9,900 megawatts at 18:10, followed by Victoria at 7,394 megawatts. Queensland and South Australia recorded peaks of 7,216 megawatts and 2,018 megawatts respectively during the evening period. Total system emissions reached 357,795 tonnes of carbon dioxide, representing a 1 percent decrease compared to the same day last week.
FCAS costs were led by Raise Regulation at 30,418 dollars, with peak prices for that service occurring in the Tasmanian region. Lower Regulation also saw significant activity totaling 17,928 dollars, while other services remained relatively stable. Interconnector flows showed significant movement from Victoria into New South Wales and from Queensland into New South Wales via the direct link.
Today · Pre-dispatch forecasts indicate a peak price of 319.04 dollars in Queensland at 19:30 and 145.00 dollars in South Australia at 18:30.
Why it matters · The daily average of 74.00 dollars sits 3 percent above the weekly average, breaking a three-day run of sub-60 dollar prices. This price recovery occurred despite a high 62.1 percent instantaneous renewable peak, as 122 negative intervals in Queensland failed to offset sustained high pricing in South Australia.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $70 | $73 | -$6 | $111 | 6 | 0 |
| QLD | $52 | $58 | -$7 | $102 | 122 | 0 |
| SA | $120 | $119 | $55 | $297 | 0 | 0 |
| VIC | $68 | $70 | $0 | $116 | 0 | 0 |
| TAS | $65 | $66 | $0 | $105 | 0 | 0 |
Min · Max are 5-minute dispatch extremes; the price chart plots 30-minute averages, so its peak reads lower.
Demand
FCAS
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $4,794 | 0 | $15 | 4 July, 06:50 |
| LOWERREG | $941 | 0 | $10 | 4 July, 15:00 |
| RAISE6SEC | $93 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 06:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $63 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 19:05 |
| LOWER60SEC | $55 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 13:50 |
| LOWER5MIN | $34 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 14:10 |
| RAISE5MIN | $33 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 19:05 |
| LOWER6SEC | $24 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 14:10 |
| Total | $6,037 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $5,579 | 0 | $15 | 4 July, 06:50 |
| LOWERREG | $4,284 | 0 | $10 | 4 July, 15:00 |
| RAISE6SEC | $257 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 06:50 |
| LOWER60SEC | $179 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 13:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $135 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 19:05 |
| LOWER5MIN | $86 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 14:10 |
| LOWER6SEC | $48 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 14:10 |
| RAISE5MIN | $42 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 19:05 |
| Total | $10,610 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $4,185 | 0 | $15 | 4 July, 06:50 |
| LOWERREG | $2,582 | 0 | $10 | 4 July, 15:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $204 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 13:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $165 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 19:05 |
| RAISE6SEC | $154 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 06:50 |
| LOWER5MIN | $87 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 14:10 |
| RAISE5MIN | $68 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 19:05 |
| LOWER6SEC | $44 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 14:10 |
| Total | $7,489 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISE60SEC | $13,568 | 0 | $12 | 4 July, 13:40 |
| RAISEREG | $5,376 | 0 | $15 | 4 July, 06:50 |
| RAISE6SEC | $5,176 | 0 | $5 | 4 July, 13:15 |
| LOWERREG | $3,457 | 0 | $10 | 4 July, 15:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $1,815 | 0 | $7 | 4 July, 14:20 |
| LOWER60SEC | $301 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 13:50 |
| LOWER5MIN | $214 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 14:10 |
| LOWER6SEC | $105 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 14:10 |
| Total | $30,011 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $10,484 | 0 | $21 | 4 July, 16:50 |
| LOWERREG | $6,664 | 0 | $50 | 4 July, 14:05 |
| RAISE6SEC | $4,204 | 0 | $101 | 5 July, 02:20 |
| LOWER6SEC | $2,401 | 0 | $51 | 4 July, 16:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $1,086 | 0 | $12 | 4 July, 16:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $325 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 16:05 |
| RAISE5MIN | $93 | 0 | $0 | 4 July, 05:00 |
| LOWER5MIN | $50 | 0 | $1 | 4 July, 05:05 |
| Total | $25,307 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 919 MW at 18:00 as NSW spot hit $94/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,397 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $81/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 872 MW at 18:30 as VIC spot hit $93/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 197 MW at 19:00 as SA spot hit $112/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,311 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $86/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1QLD | 5,974MWh | -123 |
#2NSW | 5,237MWh | +890 |
#3VIC | 3,343MWh | +507 |
#4SA | 1,152MWh | +410 |
Generation Mix
- Coal63.3% · 130.3 GWh
- Gas0.5% · 1.1 GWh
- Hydro2.7% · 5.6 GWh
- Wind10.8% · 22.3 GWh
- Solar (utility)8.1% · 16.7 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)11.0% · 22.6 GWh
- Battery2.5% · 5.2 GWh
- Other0.9% · 1.9 GWh
- Coal58.4% · 112.0 GWh
- Gas2.9% · 5.5 GWh
- Hydro3.0% · 5.8 GWh
- Wind8.4% · 16.0 GWh
- Solar (utility)10.2% · 19.6 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)13.4% · 25.7 GWh
- Battery3.1% · 6.0 GWh
- Other0.5% · 1.0 GWh
- Coal64.7% · 111.3 GWh
- Hydro8.1% · 13.9 GWh
- Wind17.7% · 30.5 GWh
- Solar (utility)2.6% · 4.5 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)4.6% · 7.9 GWh
- Battery1.9% · 3.3 GWh
- Other0.3% · 0.5 GWh
- Gas67.4% · 24.5 GWh
- Wind13.7% · 5.0 GWh
- Solar (utility)3.5% · 1.3 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)11.2% · 4.1 GWh
- Battery3.2% · 1.2 GWh
- Other1.1% · 0.4 GWh
- Hydro67.0% · 22.5 GWh
- Wind31.0% · 10.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)2.0% · 0.7 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 32.4%
- VIC 37.6%
- QLD 42.6%
- SA 26.9%
- TAS 100.7%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +39.0 GWh | 0 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −42.4 GWh | 0 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +18.7 GWh | 8 | — |
| V-SA | −12.0 GWh | 12 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | +2.0 GWh | 3 | — |
Per-region net of NETINTERCHANGE proxied to a representative interconnector. Full per-interconnector decomposition + hours-at-limit needs DINTERCONNECTOR parsing (follow-up).
Emissions
| NSW | 114.0k tCO₂ | 0.561 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 99.6k tCO₂ | 0.521 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 11.8k tCO₂ | 0.328 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 132.4k tCO₂ | 0.777 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 0 tCO₂ | 0.000 tCO₂/MWh |