Wednesday 5 August 2026
Trading day 2026-08-05
Regional price divergence as South Australia averages 166.60 dollars per megawatt hour
Regional pricing showed significant variance with South Australia averaging 166.60 dollars per megawatt hour while Queensland remained the lowest at 78.10 dollars. Queensland experienced 150 negative price intervals during the day, whereas South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania saw no negative pricing. Maximum prices peaked between 212.10 dollars in Queensland and 359.40 dollars in South Australia.
Demand peaks occurred predominantly in the evening between 18:20 and 19:10 across the mainland regions. New South Wales reached the highest demand of 11,319 megawatts at 18:35, followed by Victoria at 8,508 megawatts. Tasmania was the only region to peak in the morning, recording 1,412 megawatts at 07:55.
Renewable generation reached an instantaneous peak of 64.7 percent at 11:45, though the daily average share was lower at 37.2 percent. Solar rooftop and utility solar combined for 17.3 percent of the mix, while wind and hydro contributed 8.6 percent and 9.8 percent respectively. Batteries discharged 21,209 megawatt hours, representing 3.0 percent of total generation.
Frequency Control Ancillary Services costs were highest for Raise Regulation in Tasmania, which peaked at 63.00 dollars. Total emissions for the trading day reached 397,126 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Interconnector flows showed significant movement from Queensland to New South Wales and from Tasmania into Victoria.
Today · 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 121.60 dollars sits 43.4 percent above the 7-day average, extending a three-day rising trend. This price elevation occurred alongside a 15.8 percent weekly increase in emissions and a relatively low 37.2 percent renewable share.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $110 | $118 | -$19 | $241 | 10 | 0 |
| QLD | $78 | $89 | -$25 | $212 | 150 | 0 |
| SA | $167 | $171 | $98 | $359 | 0 | 0 |
| VIC | $137 | $141 | $63 | $275 | 0 | 0 |
| TAS | $122 | $123 | $13 | $247 | 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 | $3,481 | 0 | $20 | 5 Aug, 16:05 |
| LOWERREG | $739 | 0 | $5 | 5 Aug, 13:35 |
| RAISE6SEC | $113 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 06:50 |
| LOWER60SEC | $85 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 14:40 |
| RAISE60SEC | $82 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 07:05 |
| LOWER6SEC | $55 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| LOWER5MIN | $42 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| RAISE5MIN | $40 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 07:00 |
| Total | $4,637 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $13,206 | 0 | $20 | 5 Aug, 16:05 |
| LOWERREG | $3,122 | 0 | $5 | 5 Aug, 13:35 |
| RAISE6SEC | $356 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 06:50 |
| LOWER60SEC | $216 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 14:40 |
| RAISE60SEC | $188 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 07:05 |
| LOWER6SEC | $108 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| RAISE5MIN | $74 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 07:00 |
| LOWER5MIN | $50 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| Total | $17,320 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $11,387 | 0 | $20 | 5 Aug, 16:05 |
| LOWERREG | $3,145 | 0 | $5 | 5 Aug, 13:35 |
| RAISE60SEC | $281 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 07:05 |
| RAISE6SEC | $246 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 06:50 |
| LOWER60SEC | $184 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 14:40 |
| LOWER6SEC | $122 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| RAISE5MIN | $109 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 07:00 |
| LOWER5MIN | $67 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| Total | $15,541 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $7,003 | 0 | $20 | 5 Aug, 16:05 |
| LOWERREG | $2,829 | 0 | $5 | 5 Aug, 13:35 |
| RAISE6SEC | $658 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 09:20 |
| RAISE60SEC | $488 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 09:35 |
| RAISE5MIN | $260 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 09:35 |
| LOWER60SEC | $245 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 14:40 |
| LOWER6SEC | $166 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| LOWER5MIN | $102 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| Total | $11,750 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $10,123 | 0 | $63 | 5 Aug, 09:40 |
| LOWERREG | $2,539 | 0 | $2 | 5 Aug, 16:25 |
| LOWER6SEC | $1 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| LOWER5MIN | $0 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 15:25 |
| RAISE6SEC | $0 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 06:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $0 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 07:05 |
| RAISE5MIN | $0 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 07:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $0 | 0 | $0 | 5 Aug, 14:40 |
| Total | $12,664 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,426 MW at 07:30 as NSW spot hit $137/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,292 MW at 18:00 as QLD spot hit $173/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 846 MW at 07:30 as VIC spot hit $130/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 226 MW at 20:00 as SA spot hit $175/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,256 MW at 07:30 as TAS spot hit $117/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 8,997MWh | +111 |
#2QLD | 6,200MWh | -986 |
#3VIC | 4,567MWh | -243 |
#4SA | 1,444MWh | +483 |
Generation Mix
- Coal58.9% · 139.3 GWh
- Gas1.7% · 3.9 GWh
- Hydro4.0% · 9.5 GWh
- Wind9.4% · 22.3 GWh
- Solar (utility)10.2% · 24.0 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)11.5% · 27.2 GWh
- Battery3.8% · 9.0 GWh
- Other0.4% · 1.0 GWh
- Coal62.9% · 129.7 GWh
- Gas2.4% · 5.0 GWh
- Hydro2.1% · 4.4 GWh
- Wind5.0% · 10.4 GWh
- Solar (utility)10.2% · 21.0 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)14.3% · 29.4 GWh
- Battery3.0% · 6.2 GWh
- Other0.1% · 0.2 GWh
- Coal61.4% · 114.0 GWh
- Gas4.9% · 9.1 GWh
- Hydro12.4% · 23.0 GWh
- Wind10.8% · 20.0 GWh
- Solar (utility)3.5% · 6.6 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)4.5% · 8.4 GWh
- Battery2.5% · 4.6 GWh
- Gas64.8% · 26.2 GWh
- Wind17.9% · 7.2 GWh
- Solar (utility)2.9% · 1.2 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)9.6% · 3.9 GWh
- Battery3.6% · 1.4 GWh
- Other1.2% · 0.5 GWh
- Gas13.5% · 5.4 GWh
- Hydro81.5% · 32.7 GWh
- Wind2.5% · 1.0 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)2.6% · 1.0 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 36.1%
- VIC 34.5%
- QLD 39.2%
- SA 27.2%
- TAS 112.1%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +40.7 GWh | 2 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −38.3 GWh | 2 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +376 MWh | 30 | — |
| V-SA | −16.1 GWh | 10 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | +19.4 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 | 123.6k tCO₂ | 0.512 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 116.1k tCO₂ | 0.553 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 13.3k tCO₂ | 0.328 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 140.9k tCO₂ | 0.754 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 3.3k tCO₂ | 0.083 tCO₂/MWh |