Thursday 30 July 2026
Trading day 2026-07-30
South Australia average prices surge to four hundred and seventy dollars
Regional price dispersion was significant with South Australia averaging $470.8/MWh, nearly six times the Queensland average of $83.2/MWh. While Queensland saw 120 negative price intervals, other regions remained positive with Victoria and New South Wales averaging $145.2/MWh and $139.4/MWh respectively.
Evening demand peaks occurred between 18:30 and 19:20 across the mainland, led by New South Wales at 11,480 MW. Tasmania recorded its daily peak of 1483 MW much earlier during the morning period at 07:55.
Renewable generation reached an instantaneous peak of 62.6% at 11:35, though the daily share settled at 35.2%. Solar rooftop and utility solar combined for 18.4% of the mix, while wind contributed a lower 5.3% share. Batteries provided 21,411 MWh of discharge energy, representing 3.0% of the total generation profile.
FCAS costs were highest in Tasmania where regulation services peaked at $161/MWh. Total system emissions reached 408,186 tonnes of CO2, representing a 13.5% increase compared to the same day last week.
Today · Forward schedules indicate a peak price of $319.04/MWh in Queensland at 19:30 with no reserve alerts currently issued.
Why it matters · The daily average price of $171.5/MWh is more than triple the seven-day average, marking a sharp departure from the recent low-price trend. This volatility is characterised by extreme price separation between South Australia and Queensland despite a healthy 62.6% instantaneous renewable peak.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $139 | $148 | $19 | $500 | 0 | 0 |
| QLD | $83 | $94 | -$5 | $232 | 120 | 0 |
| SA | $471 | $471 | $255 | $4981 | 0 | 0 |
| VIC | $145 | $151 | $20 | $526 | 0 | 0 |
| TAS | $128 | $131 | $0 | $474 | 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 | $4,242 | 0 | $21 | 31 July, 01:00 |
| LOWERREG | $1,060 | 0 | $4 | 30 July, 13:45 |
| RAISE6SEC | $206 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $140 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $96 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| LOWER5MIN | $85 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 15:20 |
| RAISE5MIN | $62 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:40 |
| LOWER6SEC | $58 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| Total | $5,948 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $8,425 | 0 | $21 | 31 July, 01:00 |
| LOWERREG | $3,175 | 0 | $4 | 30 July, 13:45 |
| RAISE6SEC | $460 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $277 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $201 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| LOWER6SEC | $85 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| RAISE5MIN | $75 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:40 |
| LOWER5MIN | $43 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 15:20 |
| Total | $12,741 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $7,848 | 0 | $21 | 31 July, 01:00 |
| LOWERREG | $2,964 | 0 | $4 | 30 July, 13:45 |
| RAISE6SEC | $378 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $328 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $120 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:40 |
| LOWER60SEC | $113 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| LOWER6SEC | $73 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| LOWER5MIN | $49 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 15:20 |
| Total | $11,873 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $6,885 | 0 | $21 | 31 July, 01:00 |
| LOWERREG | $2,982 | 0 | $4 | 30 July, 13:45 |
| RAISE6SEC | $1,034 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 08:25 |
| RAISE60SEC | $936 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 08:30 |
| LOWER60SEC | $268 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| RAISE5MIN | $238 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 08:30 |
| LOWER6SEC | $164 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| LOWER5MIN | $147 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 15:20 |
| Total | $12,654 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $11,776 | 0 | $161 | 30 July, 08:05 |
| LOWERREG | $2,858 | 0 | $50 | 30 July, 15:05 |
| LOWER5MIN | $4 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 15:20 |
| LOWER60SEC | $1 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| LOWER6SEC | $1 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 13:15 |
| RAISE6SEC | $0 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $0 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $0 | 0 | $0 | 30 July, 07:40 |
| Total | $14,641 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,489 MW at 19:30 as NSW spot hit $180/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,352 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $130/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 890 MW at 07:30 as VIC spot hit $204/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 128 MW at 19:30 as SA spot hit $467/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,601 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $195/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 9,170MWh | +1,529 |
#2QLD | 6,973MWh | +467 |
#3VIC | 4,324MWh | +346 |
#4SA | 946MWh | +221 |
Generation Mix
- Coal61.4% · 145.5 GWh
- Gas3.0% · 7.2 GWh
- Hydro4.3% · 10.2 GWh
- Wind3.5% · 8.2 GWh
- Solar (utility)11.5% · 27.2 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)11.4% · 27.0 GWh
- Battery3.9% · 9.2 GWh
- Other1.0% · 2.3 GWh
- Coal58.2% · 123.8 GWh
- Gas4.8% · 10.1 GWh
- Hydro2.5% · 5.3 GWh
- Wind5.3% · 11.3 GWh
- Solar (utility)11.4% · 24.2 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)13.7% · 29.0 GWh
- Battery3.3% · 7.0 GWh
- Other0.9% · 1.9 GWh
- Coal63.5% · 116.5 GWh
- Gas6.1% · 11.2 GWh
- Hydro12.1% · 22.1 GWh
- Wind6.5% · 11.9 GWh
- Solar (utility)3.8% · 7.0 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)5.5% · 10.1 GWh
- Battery2.4% · 4.3 GWh
- Other0.2% · 0.4 GWh
- Gas77.3% · 31.0 GWh
- Wind2.9% · 1.2 GWh
- Solar (utility)2.7% · 1.1 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)14.2% · 5.7 GWh
- Battery2.4% · 0.9 GWh
- Other0.6% · 0.2 GWh
- Gas8.9% · 3.9 GWh
- Hydro76.9% · 33.5 GWh
- Wind12.2% · 5.3 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)2.0% · 0.9 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 31.1%
- VIC 30.2%
- QLD 41.9%
- SA 19.5%
- TAS 117.8%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +49.0 GWh | 0 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −44.2 GWh | 0 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | −6.2 GWh | 30 | — |
| V-SA | −12.0 GWh | 0 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | +20.0 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 | 131.3k tCO₂ | 0.546 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 113.2k tCO₂ | 0.525 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 16.3k tCO₂ | 0.406 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 145.0k tCO₂ | 0.788 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 2.3k tCO₂ | 0.054 tCO₂/MWh |