Monday 27 July 2026
Trading day 2026-07-27
South Australia records 398 negative price intervals amid regional divergence
Regional price outcomes diverged sharply with New South Wales and Queensland averaging 102.30 and 87.90 dollars per megawatt hour respectively. In contrast, South Australia saw an average price of 24.70 dollars per megawatt hour, supported by 398 negative price intervals. Victoria and Tasmania also recorded low averages of 28.10 and 35.60 dollars per megawatt hour with frequent negative pricing.
Aggregate demand peaked in the evening with New South Wales reaching 10,842 megawatts at 18:15. Queensland and Victoria also saw their highest consumption levels at approximately the same time, hitting 7,814 and 8,178 megawatts. Tasmania was the only region to peak during the morning at 08:05 with 1,351 megawatts.
Coal remained the primary generation source at 56.1 percent of the total mix while wind contributed 15.1 percent. Combined solar sources provided 15.5 percent of energy, helping renewables achieve a daily average share of 37.6 percent. Batteries dispatched 15,726 megawatt hours into the grid but remained net consumers for the day.
Total emissions rose by 3.5 percent compared to the same day last week, reaching 382,190 tonnes of carbon dioxide. FCAS costs were highest in the regulation services, with Tasmania and South Australia recording the peak prices across most categories.
Today · Forecasts indicate a Queensland peak price of 319.04 dollars per megawatt hour at 19:30 and a South Australian peak of 145.00 dollars.
Why it matters · The daily average price of 67.90 dollars per megawatt hour sits 9.1 percent above the weekly mean, breaking a three-day downward trend. This increase occurred despite a high renewable peak of 63.1 percent and significant negative pricing in southern regions, indicating extreme price volatility between the northern and southern states.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $102 | $107 | $30 | $312 | 0 | 0 |
| QLD | $88 | $93 | $25 | $294 | 0 | 0 |
| SA | $25 | $26 | -$164 | $259 | 398 | 0 |
| VIC | $28 | $29 | -$278 | $247 | 176 | 0 |
| TAS | $36 | $39 | -$10 | $246 | 146 | 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 | $4,745 | 0 | $12 | 27 July, 23:05 |
| LOWERREG | $622 | 0 | $7 | 27 July, 15:15 |
| RAISE60SEC | $192 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 08:30 |
| RAISE6SEC | $167 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 19:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $84 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 07:40 |
| LOWER60SEC | $81 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:00 |
| LOWER5MIN | $36 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:50 |
| LOWER6SEC | $36 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:40 |
| Total | $5,963 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $6,609 | 0 | $12 | 27 July, 23:05 |
| LOWERREG | $1,998 | 0 | $7 | 27 July, 15:15 |
| RAISE6SEC | $414 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 19:00 |
| RAISE60SEC | $393 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 08:45 |
| LOWER60SEC | $221 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $103 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 08:40 |
| LOWER6SEC | $64 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:40 |
| LOWER5MIN | $50 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:50 |
| Total | $9,852 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $11,997 | 0 | $12 | 27 July, 23:05 |
| LOWERREG | $2,652 | 0 | $7 | 27 July, 15:15 |
| RAISE60SEC | $455 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 08:30 |
| RAISE6SEC | $383 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 19:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $150 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 07:40 |
| LOWER60SEC | $92 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:00 |
| LOWER5MIN | $28 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:50 |
| LOWER6SEC | $26 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:40 |
| Total | $15,783 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOWER60SEC | $11,880 | 0 | $50 | 27 July, 16:25 |
| RAISEREG | $4,280 | 0 | $12 | 27 July, 23:05 |
| LOWERREG | $2,571 | 0 | $8 | 27 July, 15:15 |
| LOWER6SEC | $2,241 | 0 | $5 | 27 July, 15:20 |
| LOWER5MIN | $729 | 0 | $2 | 27 July, 16:30 |
| RAISE6SEC | $433 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 06:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $358 | 0 | $1 | 27 July, 17:30 |
| RAISE5MIN | $189 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 06:05 |
| Total | $22,681 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $8,678 | 0 | $30 | 27 July, 17:30 |
| LOWERREG | $5,162 | 0 | $12 | 27 July, 22:30 |
| RAISE6SEC | $319 | 0 | $3 | 27 July, 21:45 |
| RAISE60SEC | $202 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 19:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $23 | 0 | $1 | 27 July, 21:55 |
| LOWER6SEC | $12 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:40 |
| RAISE5MIN | $2 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 21:45 |
| LOWER5MIN | $1 | 0 | $0 | 27 July, 15:50 |
| Total | $14,399 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,252 MW at 18:00 as NSW spot hit $190/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,611 MW at 18:00 as QLD spot hit $163/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 450 MW at 19:30 as VIC spot hit $41/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 534 MW at 18:30 as SA spot hit $74/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,375 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $37/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 6,319MWh | -1,934 |
#2QLD | 5,839MWh | -1,613 |
#3VIC | 2,547MWh | -2,426 |
#4SA | 1,021MWh | -1,129 |
Generation Mix
- Coal71.1% · 154.0 GWh
- Gas1.1% · 2.4 GWh
- Hydro6.2% · 13.4 GWh
- Wind1.8% · 3.9 GWh
- Solar (utility)6.9% · 14.9 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)10.0% · 21.8 GWh
- Battery2.9% · 6.3 GWh
- Coal60.5% · 124.2 GWh
- Gas6.0% · 12.4 GWh
- Hydro2.7% · 5.6 GWh
- Wind5.4% · 11.2 GWh
- Solar (utility)10.5% · 21.6 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)12.0% · 24.6 GWh
- Battery2.8% · 5.8 GWh
- Coal59.5% · 106.1 GWh
- Gas0.1% · 0.1 GWh
- Hydro2.3% · 4.1 GWh
- Wind28.8% · 51.2 GWh
- Solar (utility)1.9% · 3.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)6.0% · 10.7 GWh
- Battery1.4% · 2.5 GWh
- Gas16.0% · 7.4 GWh
- Wind63.7% · 29.5 GWh
- Solar (utility)4.0% · 1.8 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)14.2% · 6.6 GWh
- Battery2.2% · 1.0 GWh
- Gas8.0% · 3.0 GWh
- Hydro71.0% · 27.2 GWh
- Wind19.5% · 7.5 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)1.6% · 0.6 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 22.4%
- VIC 41.0%
- QLD 37.9%
- SA 84.7%
- TAS 113.6%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +34.0 GWh | 0 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −56.9 GWh | 0 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +11.7 GWh | 6 | — |
| V-SA | +7.3 GWh | 10 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | +9.5 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
| NSW | 135.6k tCO₂ | 0.616 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 115.0k tCO₂ | 0.550 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 3.4k tCO₂ | 0.073 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 126.3k tCO₂ | 0.712 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 1.8k tCO₂ | 0.049 tCO₂/MWh |