NEM Daily analysis

Friday 24 July 2026

Trading day 2026-07-24

Market Snapshot

NEM daily average prices fall as renewable share reaches seventy percent

Regional price spreads were significant, ranging from a low of $24.20/MWh in Victoria to $86.70/MWh in South Australia. Victoria saw the deepest negative pricing at -$33.60/MWh, while South Australia and Tasmania avoided negative intervals entirely. New South Wales and Queensland both experienced evening demand peaks exceeding 7.4 GW.

Coal provided 49.4% of the total generation mix, supported by a combined solar contribution of 17.5% and wind at 21.2%. Hydro and gas accounted for 6.4% and 3.0% respectively. Batteries dispatched 17,913 MWh throughout the day, finishing with a net load of 3,156 MWh.

FCAS costs remained subdued across all services, with the highest single cost being $27,778 for Raise Regulation. Tasmania recorded the peak prices for most frequency services, including a $50.00/MWh peak for Lower Regulation. Total system emissions settled at 349,771 tonnes of CO2.

Interconnector flows showed net exports from Victoria to South Australia and New South Wales. Queensland received significant net inflows via the N-Q-MNSP1 link despite its high frequency of negative price intervals. Tasmania remained a net exporter to the mainland via the Basslink connection.

Today · Forecasts indicate a peak price of $319.04/MWh in Queensland at 19:30, with South Australia expected to reach $145.00/MWh at 18:30.

Why it matters · The daily average price of $47.00/MWh sits 34.5% below the weekly average, extending a downward trend over the last three days. This softening occurs as high renewable penetration and significant battery dispatch coincide with a sharp double-digit reduction in daily carbon emissions.

NSW $49VIC $24QLD $39SA $87TAS $28

Numbers-only recap · gemini-3-flash-preview

Prices

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

NSW VIC QLD SA TAS

Region	Avg	VWAP	Min	Max	Neg
NSW	$49	$52	-$9	$81	26
QLD	$39	$44	-$7	$78	128
SA	$87	$89	$8	$143	0
VIC	$24	$26	-$34	$111	18
TAS	$28	$30	$0	$101	0

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

Demand

NSW

Peak

11,196MW

18:00

Trough

6,523MW

13:45

Energy

425.4GWh

QLD

Peak

7,436MW

18:05

Trough

3,854MW

12:30

Energy

280.5GWh

Peak

2,267MW

18:20

Trough

1,414MW

03:55

Energy

84.5GWh

VIC

Peak

8,218MW

08:15

Trough

4,673MW

04:00

Energy

321.9GWh

TAS

Peak

1,386MW

08:10

Trough

901MW

02:55

Energy

55.7GWh

FCAS

Service	Cost	Spikes	Peak	When
RAISEREG	$4,663	0	$9	24 July, 11:50
LOWERREG	$782	0	$4	24 July, 15:05
RAISE6SEC	$135	0	$0	24 July, 08:15
LOWER60SEC	$130	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
RAISE60SEC	$99	0	$0	24 July, 07:25
LOWER5MIN	$69	0	$0	24 July, 15:25
RAISE5MIN	$36	0	$0	24 July, 08:10
LOWER6SEC	$28	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
Total	$5,942

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

Service	Cost	Spikes	Peak	When
RAISEREG	$6,276	0	$9	24 July, 11:50
LOWERREG	$1,670	0	$4	24 July, 15:05
LOWER60SEC	$346	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
RAISE6SEC	$208	0	$0	24 July, 08:15
RAISE60SEC	$131	0	$0	24 July, 07:25
LOWER5MIN	$67	0	$0	24 July, 15:25
LOWER6SEC	$45	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
RAISE5MIN	$28	0	$0	24 July, 08:10
Total	$8,772

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

Service	Cost	Spikes	Peak	When
RAISEREG	$5,490	0	$9	24 July, 11:50
LOWERREG	$2,280	0	$4	24 July, 15:05
RAISE6SEC	$195	0	$0	24 July, 08:15
RAISE60SEC	$177	0	$0	24 July, 07:25
LOWER60SEC	$150	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
RAISE5MIN	$68	0	$0	24 July, 08:10
LOWER5MIN	$61	0	$0	24 July, 15:25
LOWER6SEC	$24	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
Total	$8,444

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

Service	Cost	Spikes	Peak	When
RAISEREG	$4,151	0	$9	24 July, 11:50
LOWERREG	$2,052	0	$4	24 July, 15:05
LOWER60SEC	$345	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
RAISE6SEC	$207	0	$0	24 July, 08:15
RAISE60SEC	$159	0	$0	24 July, 07:25
LOWER5MIN	$146	0	$0	24 July, 15:25
LOWER6SEC	$66	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
RAISE5MIN	$39	0	$0	24 July, 08:10
Total	$7,165

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

Service	Cost	Spikes	Peak	When
RAISEREG	$7,197	0	$18	24 July, 04:50
LOWERREG	$2,561	0	$50	24 July, 04:55
RAISE60SEC	$252	0	$3	24 July, 15:05
RAISE6SEC	$130	0	$0	24 July, 12:35
LOWER60SEC	$16	0	$0	24 July, 14:15
RAISE5MIN	$5	0	$0	24 July, 13:30
LOWER5MIN	$4	0	$0	24 July, 15:35
LOWER6SEC	$0	0	$0	24 July, 15:30
Total	$10,167

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

Battery dispatch

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 856 MW at 08:00 as NSW spot hit $67/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 915 MW at 07:30 as QLD spot hit $65/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 1,154 MW at 07:30 as VIC spot hit $63/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 393 MW at 08:30 as SA spot hit $107/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 2,998 MW at 08:00 as TAS spot hit $76/MWh.

Discharged

5,106MWh

peak 856 MW · 08:00

Charged

6,375MWh

peak 1,414 MW

Net

-1,269MWh

discharge − charge

Round-trip

80%

discharge / charge ratio

Discharged

6,215MWh

peak 915 MW · 07:30

Charged

7,151MWh

peak 1,511 MW

Net

-936MWh

discharge − charge

Round-trip

87%

discharge / charge ratio

Discharged

4,928MWh

peak 1,154 MW · 07:30

Charged

6,514MWh

peak 887 MW

Net

-1,586MWh

discharge − charge

Round-trip

76%

discharge / charge ratio

Discharged

1,664MWh

peak 393 MW · 08:30

Charged

1,029MWh

peak 201 MW

Net

+635MWh

discharge − charge

Round-trip

162%

discharge / charge ratio

NEM-wide

Discharged

17,913MWh

peak 2,998 MW · 08:00

Charged

21,069MWh

peak 3,591 MW

Net

-3,157MWh

discharge − charge

Round-trip

85%

discharge / charge ratio

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

Net MWdischarge ↑ · charge ↓NSWQLDVICSATAS$/MWh

Regional dispatch ranking

Region	Discharged	Peak MW	Peak time	Net
#1QLD	6,215MWh	915	07:30	-936
#2NSW	5,106MWh	856	08:00	-1,269
#3VIC	4,928MWh	1,154	07:30	-1,586
#4SA	1,664MWh	393	08:30	+635

Generation Mix

Coal58.0% · 132.6 GWh
Gas0.5% · 1.1 GWh
Hydro3.7% · 8.5 GWh
Wind12.6% · 28.9 GWh
Solar (utility)11.4% · 26.1 GWh
Solar (rooftop)11.6% · 26.5 GWh
Battery2.2% · 5.1 GWh

Coal56.6% · 114.1 GWh
Gas1.9% · 3.9 GWh
Hydro2.3% · 4.7 GWh
Wind11.0% · 22.2 GWh
Solar (utility)10.8% · 21.7 GWh
Solar (rooftop)14.2% · 28.5 GWh
Battery3.1% · 6.2 GWh
Other0.1% · 0.2 GWh

Coal50.9% · 104.3 GWh
Hydro2.3% · 4.7 GWh
Wind37.3% · 76.4 GWh
Solar (utility)3.1% · 6.3 GWh
Solar (rooftop)4.1% · 8.4 GWh
Battery2.4% · 4.9 GWh

Gas41.0% · 13.5 GWh
Wind33.1% · 10.9 GWh
Solar (utility)5.8% · 1.9 GWh
Solar (rooftop)13.1% · 4.3 GWh
Battery5.1% · 1.7 GWh
Other1.9% · 0.6 GWh

Gas7.1% · 3.0 GWh
Hydro63.8% · 27.4 GWh
Wind27.8% · 11.9 GWh
Solar (rooftop)1.3% · 0.6 GWh

coalgashydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopBattery (charge)

coalgashydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopotherBattery (charge)

coalhydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopBattery (charge)

gasbattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopotherBattery (charge)

gashydrowindsolar rooftop

Renewables

NSW · Daily renewable share

37.0%

VIC · Daily renewable share

53.6%

QLD · Daily renewable share

46.0%

SA · Daily renewable share

38.4%

TAS · Daily renewable share

116.0%

Peak instantaneous

70.0%

at 13:00

Daily NEM-wide share

46.0%

By region (daily share)

NSW

37.0%
VIC

53.6%
QLD

46.0%
SA

38.4%
TAS

116.0%

Interconnectors

Region (proxy)	Net flow	Direction changes	Hours at limit
N-Q-MNSP1	+31.0 GWh	0	—
NSW1-QLD1	−46.5 GWh	0	—
VIC1-NSW1	+37.5 GWh	8	—
V-SA	−31.1 GWh	0	—
T-V-MNSP1	+16.5 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

349.8k tCO₂

▼ 14.6% vs same day last week

Intensity by region

NSW	115.7k tCO₂	0.501 tCO₂/MWh
QLD	101.7k tCO₂	0.495 tCO₂/MWh
SA	6.4k tCO₂	0.191 tCO₂/MWh
VIC	124.1k tCO₂	0.602 tCO₂/MWh
TAS	1.8k tCO₂	0.043 tCO₂/MWh