Saturday 1 August 2026
Trading day 2026-08-01
Regional price divergence as southern states record frequent negative intervals
Average regional prices ranged from 37.00 dollars per megawatt hour in Tasmania to 70.60 dollars in New South Wales. Victoria and South Australia saw significant price volatility with 102 and 94 negative intervals respectively, while New South Wales recorded none. Maximum prices reached 172.90 dollars in South Australia during the evening peak.
Coal remained the primary generation source at 55.0 percent of the mix, followed by wind at 12.6 percent. Combined solar contributions reached 19.2 percent, helping renewables achieve an instantaneous peak of 67.4 percent at 13:10. Hydro and gas contributed 8.2 percent and 2.6 percent respectively to the total daily energy.
Battery storage systems discharged 16,459 megawatt hours, resulting in a net consumption of 4,230 megawatt hours after charging. FCAS costs were highest for regulation services, with Tasmania recording the peak price of 50.00 dollars for lower regulation. Total market emissions rose by 8.1 percent compared to the same day last week.
Interconnector flows showed significant movement from Victoria into New South Wales and from Queensland into New South Wales. New South Wales acted as the primary sink for regional transfers, absorbing 23,319 megawatt hours from the south. Tasmania exported a net 7,832 megawatt hours to the mainland via the Basslink interconnector.
Today · Predispatch 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 57.60 dollars sits 32.8 percent below the weekly average, breaking a two-day trend of prices exceeding 150 dollars. This price reduction occurred despite an 8.1 percent rise in emissions, as high renewable penetration in southern regions coincided with heavy coal reliance elsewhere.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $71 | $71 | $7 | $114 | 0 | 0 |
| QLD | $47 | $49 | -$5 | $90 | 22 | 0 |
| SA | $52 | $63 | -$13 | $173 | 94 | 0 |
| VIC | $39 | $44 | -$13 | $106 | 102 | 0 |
| TAS | $37 | $39 | -$10 | $96 | 92 | 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 | $5,214 | 0 | $16 | 1 Aug, 16:10 |
| LOWERREG | $583 | 0 | $5 | 1 Aug, 16:20 |
| RAISE6SEC | $158 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 07:20 |
| RAISE60SEC | $139 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 19:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $121 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:50 |
| LOWER6SEC | $83 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| RAISE5MIN | $69 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 07:05 |
| LOWER5MIN | $42 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| Total | $6,409 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $7,685 | 0 | $16 | 1 Aug, 16:10 |
| LOWERREG | $2,678 | 0 | $5 | 1 Aug, 16:20 |
| LOWER60SEC | $350 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:50 |
| RAISE6SEC | $278 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 07:20 |
| LOWER6SEC | $226 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| RAISE60SEC | $173 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 19:10 |
| LOWER5MIN | $64 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| RAISE5MIN | $46 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 07:05 |
| Total | $11,500 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $6,822 | 0 | $16 | 1 Aug, 16:10 |
| LOWERREG | $2,055 | 0 | $5 | 1 Aug, 16:20 |
| RAISE60SEC | $253 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 19:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $191 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 07:20 |
| LOWER60SEC | $144 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:50 |
| RAISE5MIN | $99 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 07:05 |
| LOWER6SEC | $87 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| LOWER5MIN | $32 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| Total | $9,682 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOWERREG | $2,526 | 0 | $5 | 1 Aug, 16:20 |
| RAISEREG | $2,524 | 0 | $16 | 1 Aug, 16:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $251 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 11:50 |
| LOWER60SEC | $230 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $212 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 11:50 |
| LOWER6SEC | $174 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| RAISE5MIN | $85 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 11:50 |
| LOWER5MIN | $56 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| Total | $6,059 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $8,293 | 0 | $26 | 1 Aug, 08:35 |
| LOWERREG | $3,695 | 0 | $50 | 1 Aug, 16:15 |
| RAISE6SEC | $640 | 0 | $13 | 1 Aug, 09:45 |
| RAISE60SEC | $484 | 0 | $3 | 1 Aug, 10:35 |
| LOWER6SEC | $34 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 09:50 |
| LOWER60SEC | $32 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 09:50 |
| RAISE5MIN | $18 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 08:55 |
| LOWER5MIN | $0 | 0 | $0 | 1 Aug, 10:30 |
| Total | $13,195 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,077 MW at 18:30 as NSW spot hit $82/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,079 MW at 18:00 as QLD spot hit $79/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 889 MW at 18:30 as VIC spot hit $80/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 430 MW at 18:30 as SA spot hit $120/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,385 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $74/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 6,446MWh | -2,384 |
#2QLD | 4,571MWh | -1,094 |
#3VIC | 3,833MWh | -457 |
#4SA | 1,609MWh | -295 |
Generation Mix
- Coal64.9% · 143.2 GWh
- Gas0.5% · 1.1 GWh
- Hydro2.7% · 5.9 GWh
- Wind7.7% · 16.9 GWh
- Solar (utility)12.5% · 27.7 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)8.8% · 19.4 GWh
- Battery2.9% · 6.4 GWh
- Coal58.0% · 114.4 GWh
- Gas1.8% · 3.6 GWh
- Hydro2.2% · 4.3 GWh
- Wind14.3% · 28.3 GWh
- Solar (utility)10.3% · 20.2 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)11.0% · 21.7 GWh
- Battery2.3% · 4.6 GWh
- Other0.1% · 0.3 GWh
- Coal61.9% · 107.0 GWh
- Hydro9.0% · 15.6 GWh
- Wind11.8% · 20.4 GWh
- Solar (utility)5.2% · 9.1 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)9.8% · 16.9 GWh
- Battery2.2% · 3.8 GWh
- Gas25.2% · 9.5 GWh
- Wind40.8% · 15.4 GWh
- Solar (utility)7.2% · 2.7 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)22.6% · 8.5 GWh
- Battery4.3% · 1.6 GWh
- Gas8.6% · 3.0 GWh
- Hydro80.9% · 28.6 GWh
- Wind8.0% · 2.8 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)2.5% · 0.9 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 31.3%
- VIC 39.3%
- QLD 45.7%
- SA 63.8%
- TAS 104.1%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +42.6 GWh | 0 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −53.4 GWh | 0 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +23.3 GWh | 15 | — |
| V-SA | −13.6 GWh | 15 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | +7.8 GWh | 1 | — |
Per-region net of NETINTERCHANGE proxied to a representative interconnector. Full per-interconnector decomposition + hours-at-limit needs DINTERCONNECTOR parsing (follow-up).
Emissions
| NSW | 125.2k tCO₂ | 0.561 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 101.8k tCO₂ | 0.511 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 4.4k tCO₂ | 0.115 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 127.5k tCO₂ | 0.735 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 1.8k tCO₂ | 0.053 tCO₂/MWh |