Wednesday 19 August 2026
Trading day 2026-08-19
South Australian prices plummet as negative intervals dominate regional market outcomes
Regional average prices ranged from 22.60 dollars in South Australia to 49.90 dollars in New South Wales. South Australia saw the most volatile pricing with 258 negative intervals and a minimum of negative 496.80 dollars per megawatt hour. Victoria and Queensland also recorded frequent negative pricing with 74 and 40 intervals respectively during the trading day.
Aggregate demand peaked between 18:00 and 18:50 across all regions with New South Wales reaching a maximum load of 10,079 megawatts. Total system energy consumption was led by New South Wales at 380.1 gigawatt hours followed by Victoria at 292.3 gigawatt hours.
Renewables provided 48.1 percent of total energy with wind contributing 25.0 percent and combined solar sources adding 18.2 percent. Batteries discharged 15,076 megawatt hours into the grid while hydro generation remained relatively low at 4.3 percent of the mix.
FCAS costs were highest for the Raise 60 Second service in South Australia which reached a peak price of 964 dollars. Total daily emissions fell by 7.8 percent compared to the same day last week to 312,392 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Today · Forward forecasts indicate a peak price of 319.04 dollars in Queensland at 19:30 with New South Wales peaking at 98.25 dollars.
Why it matters · The daily average price of 28.50 dollars sits 54.6 percent below the seven-day average and continues a three-day downward trend. This low price environment coincides with a high 48.1 percent renewable share and significant battery activity despite coal still providing nearly half of total generation.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $50 | $53 | -$7 | $90 | 26 | 0 |
| QLD | $42 | $47 | -$6 | $89 | 40 | 0 |
| SA | $23 | $37 | -$497 | $105 | 258 | 0 |
| VIC | $31 | $31 | -$36 | $79 | 74 | 0 |
| TAS | $35 | $35 | -$7 | $83 | 36 | 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 | $5,669 | 0 | $20 | 19 Aug, 15:55 |
| LOWERREG | $939 | 0 | $14 | 19 Aug, 15:15 |
| RAISE60SEC | $402 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $165 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $99 | 0 | $1 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $80 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| LOWER5MIN | $56 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| LOWER6SEC | $39 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 13:45 |
| Total | $7,447 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $10,072 | 0 | $20 | 19 Aug, 15:55 |
| LOWERREG | $4,058 | 0 | $14 | 19 Aug, 15:15 |
| RAISE60SEC | $654 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $446 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $279 | 0 | $1 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| LOWER5MIN | $92 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| LOWER6SEC | $85 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 13:45 |
| RAISE5MIN | $81 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| Total | $15,766 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $10,164 | 0 | $20 | 19 Aug, 15:55 |
| LOWERREG | $4,583 | 0 | $14 | 19 Aug, 15:15 |
| RAISE60SEC | $955 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $573 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $324 | 0 | $1 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $215 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| LOWER5MIN | $179 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| LOWER6SEC | $84 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 13:45 |
| Total | $17,077 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISE60SEC | $64,488 | 0 | $964 | 19 Aug, 10:50 |
| RAISE6SEC | $9,754 | 0 | $24 | 19 Aug, 08:00 |
| RAISEREG | $4,470 | 0 | $20 | 19 Aug, 15:55 |
| LOWERREG | $4,155 | 0 | $14 | 19 Aug, 15:15 |
| RAISE5MIN | $1,677 | 0 | $5 | 19 Aug, 07:15 |
| LOWER60SEC | $367 | 0 | $1 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| LOWER6SEC | $173 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 13:10 |
| LOWER5MIN | $145 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 13:35 |
| Total | $85,230 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $10,645 | 0 | $37 | 19 Aug, 06:55 |
| LOWERREG | $4,540 | 0 | $50 | 19 Aug, 06:30 |
| LOWER6SEC | $1,824 | 0 | $27 | 19 Aug, 07:55 |
| RAISE6SEC | $1,329 | 0 | $41 | 19 Aug, 06:55 |
| RAISE60SEC | $596 | 0 | $3 | 19 Aug, 08:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $177 | 0 | $1 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| LOWER5MIN | $23 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 15:00 |
| RAISE5MIN | $7 | 0 | $0 | 19 Aug, 08:25 |
| Total | $19,141 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,426 MW at 18:30 as NSW spot hit $73/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 960 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $74/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 836 MW at 19:00 as VIC spot hit $56/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 304 MW at 18:00 as SA spot hit $93/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,273 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $63/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 6,052MWh | -871 |
#2QLD | 4,416MWh | -1,164 |
#3VIC | 3,142MWh | -56 |
#4SA | 1,466MWh | -1,018 |
Generation Mix
- Coal57.8% · 121.1 GWh
- Gas0.5% · 1.1 GWh
- Hydro3.9% · 8.2 GWh
- Wind10.0% · 20.9 GWh
- Solar (utility)11.3% · 23.7 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)13.7% · 28.6 GWh
- Battery2.9% · 6.1 GWh
- Coal56.5% · 111.8 GWh
- Gas1.6% · 3.1 GWh
- Hydro1.9% · 3.8 GWh
- Wind13.3% · 26.3 GWh
- Solar (utility)10.3% · 20.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)14.1% · 28.0 GWh
- Battery2.2% · 4.4 GWh
- Coal46.8% · 85.1 GWh
- Hydro0.3% · 0.5 GWh
- Wind46.5% · 84.7 GWh
- Solar (utility)1.5% · 2.7 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)3.2% · 5.7 GWh
- Battery1.7% · 3.1 GWh
- Gas11.8% · 4.7 GWh
- Wind60.3% · 24.0 GWh
- Solar (utility)2.4% · 0.9 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)21.8% · 8.7 GWh
- Battery3.7% · 1.5 GWh
- Gas11.0% · 3.0 GWh
- Hydro57.9% · 16.0 GWh
- Wind29.2% · 8.1 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)1.8% · 0.5 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 36.1%
- VIC 58.2%
- QLD 46.6%
- SA 80.3%
- TAS 79.8%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +32.6 GWh | 6 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −47.0 GWh | 0 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +36.0 GWh | 12 | — |
| V-SA | −16.0 GWh | 25 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | −468 MWh | 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 | 105.8k tCO₂ | 0.497 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 99.6k tCO₂ | 0.498 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 2.2k tCO₂ | 0.055 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 102.9k tCO₂ | 0.566 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 1.8k tCO₂ | 0.067 tCO₂/MWh |