NEM
NEM Daily analysis

Wednesday 22 July 2026

Trading day 2026-07-22

Market Snapshot

Regional price divergence persists as southern states record negative price intervals

Regional average prices ranged from 47.20 dollars in Tasmania to 78.20 dollars in New South Wales. Victoria and South Australia saw significant negative pricing with 66 and 50 intervals respectively while New South Wales and Queensland recorded none.

Evening demand peaks occurred between 18:10 and 20:10 across all regions with New South Wales reaching the highest system load. Total emissions fell by 3.0 percent compared to the same day last week as renewables reached a 63.6 percent instantaneous peak.

Wind generation contributed 16.6 percent of the mix while utility and rooftop solar combined for 15.3 percent. Batteries discharged 18,670 megawatt hours into the grid while hydro generation maintained a 6.9 percent share of the total fuel mix.

FCAS costs remained low with no price spikes recorded across any service. Regulation services in New South Wales accounted for the highest costs with Raise Regulation totalling 31,388 dollars for the trading day.

Today · Queensland is forecast to reach a peak price of 319.04 dollars at 19:30 while other regions remain below 150 dollars.

Why it matters · The daily average of 61.30 dollars sits 24.7 percent below the weekly average and breaks a three-day run of rising prices. This lower average occurred despite a 55.4 percent coal share because negative price intervals in southern regions offset higher northern prices.

NSW $78VIC $50QLD $73SA $67TAS $47
Numbers-only recap · gemini-3-flash-preview

Prices

Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average

NSW VIC QLD SA TAS
$0 $33 $65 $98 $130 -$10 $25 $60 $95 $130 $0 $30 $60 $90 $120 -$10 $28 $65 $103 $140 -$10 $23 $55 $88 $120 04:00 10:00 16:00 22:00 04:00
Region Avg VWAP Min Max Neg Cap
NSW $78 $80 $43 $124 0 0
QLD $73 $75 $41 $115 0 0
SA $67 $71 -$5 $138 50 0
VIC $50 $54 -$5 $128 66 0
TAS $47 $49 -$10 $115 10 0

Min · Max are 5-minute dispatch extremes; the price chart plots 30-minute averages, so its peak reads lower.

Demand

NSW
Peak
10,536MW
18:30
Trough
6,480MW
13:35
Energy
407.8GWh
QLD
Peak
7,736MW
18:15
Trough
5,319MW
13:50
Energy
300.2GWh
SA
Peak
2,156MW
18:50
Trough
1,337MW
15:40
Energy
78.3GWh
VIC
Peak
7,991MW
18:10
Trough
4,864MW
03:55
Energy
301.3GWh
TAS
Peak
1,306MW
20:10
Trough
926MW
04:35
Energy
53.3GWh

FCAS

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$3,8640$2022 July, 16:00
LOWERREG$6480$522 July, 15:10
LOWER60SEC$1780$022 July, 15:20
RAISE6SEC$960$022 July, 06:50
LOWER6SEC$800$022 July, 14:55
RAISE60SEC$710$022 July, 18:15
LOWER5MIN$510$022 July, 14:35
RAISE5MIN$290$022 July, 19:50
Total$5,017

Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$5,8840$2022 July, 16:00
LOWERREG$2,3640$522 July, 15:10
LOWER60SEC$4090$022 July, 15:20
RAISE6SEC$3130$022 July, 06:50
RAISE60SEC$1830$022 July, 18:15
LOWER6SEC$1470$022 July, 14:55
LOWER5MIN$760$022 July, 14:35
RAISE5MIN$420$022 July, 19:50
Total$9,418

Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$9,1740$2022 July, 16:00
LOWERREG$2,2530$522 July, 15:10
RAISE6SEC$1840$022 July, 06:50
RAISE60SEC$1830$022 July, 18:15
LOWER60SEC$1680$022 July, 15:20
RAISE5MIN$670$022 July, 19:50
LOWER6SEC$470$022 July, 14:55
LOWER5MIN$380$022 July, 14:35
Total$12,113

Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$4,2790$2022 July, 16:00
LOWERREG$2,2240$522 July, 15:10
RAISE6SEC$2370$022 July, 06:50
LOWER60SEC$2090$022 July, 15:20
RAISE60SEC$1860$022 July, 18:15
LOWER6SEC$1090$022 July, 14:55
RAISE5MIN$650$022 July, 19:50
LOWER5MIN$640$022 July, 14:35
Total$7,373

Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$8,1860$522 July, 06:35
LOWERREG$2,2370$322 July, 05:40
RAISE6SEC$2560$322 July, 15:25
RAISE60SEC$2500$322 July, 15:25
LOWER60SEC$250$022 July, 12:40
LOWER6SEC$240$022 July, 14:15
RAISE5MIN$110$022 July, 14:50
LOWER5MIN$00$022 July, 14:35
Total$10,988

Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

Battery dispatch

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 1,361 MW at 18:00 as NSW spot hit $108/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 1,139 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $92/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 987 MW at 08:00 as VIC spot hit $56/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 405 MW at 20:30 as SA spot hit $118/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 3,489 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $86/MWh.

Discharged
6,419MWh
peak 1,361 MW · 18:00
Charged
6,587MWh
peak 1,197 MW
Net
-168MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
97%
discharge / charge ratio
Discharged
5,531MWh
peak 1,139 MW · 18:30
Charged
6,465MWh
peak 1,016 MW
Net
-934MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
86%
discharge / charge ratio
Discharged
4,895MWh
peak 987 MW · 08:00
Charged
5,401MWh
peak 827 MW
Net
-506MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
91%
discharge / charge ratio
Discharged
1,825MWh
peak 405 MW · 20:30
Charged
2,043MWh
peak 578 MW
Net
-218MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
89%
discharge / charge ratio
NEM-wide
Discharged
18,670MWh
peak 3,489 MW · 18:30
Charged
20,495MWh
peak 3,025 MW
Net
-1,825MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
91%
discharge / charge ratio

Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average

Net MWdischarge ↑ · charge ↓NSWQLDVICSATAS$/MWh
-4.0 GW-2.0 GW0 MW2.0 GW4.0 GW-$50$0$50$100$15023:3006:3713:4520:5204:00

Regional dispatch ranking

RegionDischargedNet
#1NSW
6,419MWh
-168
#2QLD
5,531MWh
-934
#3VIC
4,895MWh
-506
#4SA
1,825MWh
-218

Generation Mix

TOP FUEL 66.4%
  • Coal66.4% · 144.9 GWh
  • Gas0.6% · 1.4 GWh
  • Hydro3.2% · 6.9 GWh
  • Wind6.2% · 13.5 GWh
  • Solar (utility)9.9% · 21.6 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)10.6% · 23.0 GWh
  • Battery2.9% · 6.4 GWh
  • Other0.1% · 0.3 GWh
TOP FUEL 66.1%
  • Coal66.1% · 128.2 GWh
  • Gas3.9% · 7.6 GWh
  • Hydro2.2% · 4.3 GWh
  • Wind6.9% · 13.4 GWh
  • Solar (utility)8.4% · 16.2 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)9.3% · 18.1 GWh
  • Battery2.9% · 5.5 GWh
  • Other0.2% · 0.5 GWh
TOP FUEL 53.3%
  • Coal53.3% · 101.6 GWh
  • Hydro5.1% · 9.7 GWh
  • Wind30.1% · 57.3 GWh
  • Solar (utility)3.4% · 6.6 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)5.5% · 10.5 GWh
  • Battery2.6% · 4.9 GWh
TOP FUEL 52.6%
  • Gas22.8% · 8.0 GWh
  • Wind52.6% · 18.3 GWh
  • Solar (utility)6.7% · 2.3 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)12.6% · 4.4 GWh
  • Battery5.2% · 1.8 GWh
TOP FUEL 63.5%
  • Gas9.9% · 4.0 GWh
  • Hydro63.5% · 25.4 GWh
  • Wind24.9% · 10.0 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)1.7% · 0.7 GWh
coalgashydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopotherBattery (charge)
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:0010.9 GW 0
coalgashydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopotherBattery (charge)
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:009.6 GW 0
coalhydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopBattery (charge)
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:009.5 GW 0
gasbattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopBattery (charge)
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:002.3 GW 0
gashydrowindsolar rooftop
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:001.9 GW 0

Renewables

NSW · Daily renewable share
29.4%
VIC · Daily renewable share
50.7%
QLD · Daily renewable share
32.7%
SA · Daily renewable share
58.1%
TAS · Daily renewable share
113.6%
Peak instantaneous
63.6%
at 11:40
Daily NEM-wide share
40.4%
By region (daily share)
  • NSW
    29.4%
  • VIC
    50.7%
  • QLD
    32.7%
  • SA
    58.1%
  • TAS
    113.6%

Interconnectors

Region (proxy) Net flow Direction changes Hours at limit
N-Q-MNSP1 +20.0 GWh 20 —
NSW1-QLD1 −39.8 GWh 2 —
VIC1-NSW1 +28.6 GWh 16 —
V-SA −22.0 GWh 6 —
T-V-MNSP1 +17.3 GWh 0 —

Per-region net of NETINTERCHANGE proxied to a representative interconnector. Full per-interconnector decomposition + hours-at-limit needs DINTERCONNECTOR parsing (follow-up).

Emissions

Total emissions
370.0k tCO₂
▼ 3.0% vs same day last week
Intensity by region
NSW 126.8k tCO₂ 0.573 tCO₂/MWh
QLD 115.9k tCO₂ 0.589 tCO₂/MWh
SA 3.9k tCO₂ 0.108 tCO₂/MWh
VIC 121.0k tCO₂ 0.630 tCO₂/MWh
TAS 2.4k tCO₂ 0.061 tCO₂/MWh