Thursday 13 August 2026
Trading day 2026-08-13
Queensland prices decouple as negative intervals suppress regional averages
Regional price averages ranged from $57.40/MWh in Queensland to $100.10/MWh in South Australia. New South Wales and Queensland both experienced negative price intervals during the day, whereas Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania remained in positive territory throughout. Total NEM emissions fell by 13.5% compared to the same day last week, reaching 356,739 tonnes of CO2.
Renewable energy reached an instantaneous peak of 65.6% at 12:15, supported by a combined solar contribution of 18.2%. Coal remained the primary generation source at 52.6%, while gas and hydro contributed 3.6% and 6.8% respectively. Wind generation provided a steady 16.6% of the total fuel mix across the trading day.
Battery storage systems discharged 14,980 MWh to the grid, though the sector remained a net consumer with -5,075 MWh after charging. FCAS costs were most pronounced in the Raise Regulation and Lower Regulation services, with Tasmania recording the highest peak prices for several contingency services.
Interconnector flows showed significant movement from New South Wales to Queensland via the MNSP1 link. Meanwhile, Victoria exported heavily to South Australia, and Tasmania provided net flows of 15,876 MWh into the mainland grid via the Basslink connection.
Today · Forward projections indicate a peak price of $319.04/MWh in Queensland at 19:30, while New South Wales expects a high of $98.25/MWh.
Why it matters · The daily average of $74.10/MWh sits 17.1% above the 7-day average, extending a three-day rising price trend across the NEM. This price growth occurred despite a significant 13.5% reduction in emissions, highlighting a day where high evening demand peaks outweighed the deflationary impact of a 65.6% peak renewable share.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $83 | $87 | -$11 | $121 | 24 | 0 |
| QLD | $57 | $66 | -$25 | $113 | 158 | 0 |
| SA | $100 | $102 | $0 | $156 | 0 | 0 |
| VIC | $87 | $89 | $0 | $149 | 0 | 0 |
| TAS | $81 | $81 | $5 | $135 | 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 | $5,483 | 0 | $16 | 13 Aug, 05:15 |
| LOWERREG | $861 | 0 | $5 | 13 Aug, 10:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $209 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 07:55 |
| RAISE60SEC | $135 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 18:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $97 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 10:50 |
| LOWER5MIN | $59 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 14:25 |
| RAISE5MIN | $58 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 18:10 |
| LOWER6SEC | $35 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 04:20 |
| Total | $6,938 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $6,584 | 0 | $16 | 13 Aug, 05:15 |
| LOWERREG | $2,744 | 0 | $5 | 13 Aug, 10:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $271 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 07:55 |
| LOWER60SEC | $244 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 10:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $149 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 18:10 |
| LOWER5MIN | $66 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 14:25 |
| LOWER6SEC | $53 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 04:20 |
| RAISE5MIN | $42 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 18:10 |
| Total | $10,153 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $10,007 | 0 | $16 | 13 Aug, 05:15 |
| LOWERREG | $2,397 | 0 | $5 | 13 Aug, 10:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $576 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 07:55 |
| RAISE60SEC | $460 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 18:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $278 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 10:50 |
| RAISE5MIN | $149 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 18:10 |
| LOWER5MIN | $128 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 14:25 |
| LOWER6SEC | $41 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 04:20 |
| Total | $14,036 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $5,206 | 0 | $16 | 13 Aug, 05:15 |
| LOWERREG | $3,478 | 0 | $5 | 13 Aug, 10:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $624 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 09:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $475 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 10:05 |
| LOWER60SEC | $311 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 10:50 |
| RAISE5MIN | $145 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 10:35 |
| LOWER5MIN | $128 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 14:25 |
| LOWER6SEC | $82 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 04:20 |
| Total | $10,448 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $9,665 | 0 | $20 | 13 Aug, 11:35 |
| LOWER6SEC | $5,199 | 0 | $91 | 13 Aug, 05:00 |
| LOWERREG | $3,601 | 0 | $3 | 13 Aug, 08:35 |
| RAISE6SEC | $257 | 0 | $1 | 13 Aug, 04:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $250 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 04:05 |
| LOWER60SEC | $29 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 04:45 |
| RAISE5MIN | $20 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 04:40 |
| LOWER5MIN | $10 | 0 | $0 | 13 Aug, 04:45 |
| Total | $19,031 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 933 MW at 18:30 as NSW spot hit $111/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,262 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $104/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 921 MW at 19:00 as VIC spot hit $115/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 234 MW at 09:30 as SA spot hit $98/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,105 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $117/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1QLD | 5,040MWh | -1,202 |
#2VIC | 4,661MWh | -587 |
#3NSW | 4,424MWh | -2,277 |
#4SA | 856MWh | -1,009 |
Generation Mix
- Coal59.9% · 133.6 GWh
- Gas0.5% · 1.1 GWh
- Hydro5.6% · 12.6 GWh
- Wind11.3% · 25.1 GWh
- Solar (utility)7.4% · 16.6 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)13.3% · 29.7 GWh
- Battery2.0% · 4.4 GWh
- Coal59.5% · 121.4 GWh
- Gas1.6% · 3.3 GWh
- Hydro1.7% · 3.5 GWh
- Wind8.4% · 17.1 GWh
- Solar (utility)10.5% · 21.5 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)15.6% · 31.9 GWh
- Battery2.5% · 5.0 GWh
- Other0.1% · 0.2 GWh
- Coal57.6% · 102.1 GWh
- Gas1.2% · 2.1 GWh
- Hydro4.2% · 7.5 GWh
- Wind26.5% · 47.0 GWh
- Solar (utility)2.7% · 4.9 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)5.0% · 8.9 GWh
- Battery2.6% · 4.7 GWh
- Gas39.4% · 14.4 GWh
- Wind32.8% · 12.0 GWh
- Solar (utility)7.0% · 2.5 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)18.5% · 6.8 GWh
- Battery2.3% · 0.9 GWh
- Gas8.5% · 3.2 GWh
- Hydro59.4% · 22.5 GWh
- Wind29.5% · 11.2 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)2.6% · 1.0 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 35.6%
- VIC 41.6%
- QLD 43.8%
- SA 49.1%
- TAS 111.1%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +38.2 GWh | 0 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −28.1 GWh | 2 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | −2.7 GWh | 14 | — |
| V-SA | −18.1 GWh | 0 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | +15.9 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 | 117.3k tCO₂ | 0.523 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 108.3k tCO₂ | 0.524 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 7.3k tCO₂ | 0.198 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 121.8k tCO₂ | 0.683 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 1.9k tCO₂ | 0.052 tCO₂/MWh |