Monday 31 August 2026
Trading day 2026-08-31
Regional price divergence as South Australia records eighty-six negative price intervals
Average regional prices ranged from $44.70/MWh in Tasmania to $62.90/MWh in New South Wales. Negative pricing was prevalent across the southern and northern regions, with South Australia seeing the most frequent occurrences. New South Wales avoided negative intervals entirely, reaching a maximum price of $136.70/MWh.
Operational demand peaked late in the day for most mainland regions, with New South Wales hitting its maximum at 18:35. Queensland and Victoria followed with evening peaks of 7,624 MW and 7,007 MW respectively. Total system emissions rose by 3.1% compared to the same day last week.
Renewables contributed a 43.5% share of total generation, supported by a combined solar contribution of 26.6%. Wind and hydro provided 9.0% and 7.4% respectively. Battery storage discharged 18,224 MWh to the grid, representing 2.8% of the total generation mix.
FCAS costs remained low across all services, with the highest single cost being $32,941 for Raise Regulation. Interconnector flows were dominated by transfers from New South Wales to Queensland. Tasmania remained a net exporter to Victoria via the Basslink interconnector.
Today · Forecasts indicate a peak price of $319.04/MWh in Queensland at 19:30, with New South Wales expected to peak at $98.25/MWh.
Why it matters · The daily average price of $50.18/MWh sits 33% below the weekly average, extending a downward trend over the last four days. This price softening occurred despite a rise in emissions, as high solar availability drove eighty-six negative intervals in South Australia while coal maintained a majority share.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $63 | $69 | $0 | $137 | 0 | 0 |
| QLD | $50 | $55 | -$3 | $117 | 36 | 0 |
| SA | $45 | $56 | -$7 | $124 | 86 | 0 |
| VIC | $48 | $54 | -$4 | $125 | 36 | 0 |
| TAS | $45 | $48 | -$4 | $113 | 28 | 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 | $4,108 | 0 | $17 | 31 Aug, 16:10 |
| LOWERREG | $1,057 | 0 | $5 | 31 Aug, 09:40 |
| LOWER60SEC | $93 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 16:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $93 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 22:35 |
| RAISE60SEC | $81 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 18:25 |
| LOWER6SEC | $62 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 11:55 |
| LOWER5MIN | $59 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 15:20 |
| RAISE5MIN | $27 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 07:30 |
| Total | $5,579 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $6,634 | 0 | $17 | 31 Aug, 16:10 |
| LOWERREG | $2,291 | 0 | $5 | 31 Aug, 09:40 |
| LOWER60SEC | $387 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 16:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $321 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 22:35 |
| RAISE60SEC | $266 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 18:25 |
| LOWER6SEC | $221 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 11:55 |
| LOWER5MIN | $127 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 15:20 |
| RAISE5MIN | $39 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 07:30 |
| Total | $10,285 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $8,618 | 0 | $17 | 31 Aug, 16:10 |
| LOWERREG | $2,285 | 0 | $5 | 31 Aug, 09:40 |
| RAISE60SEC | $248 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 18:25 |
| RAISE6SEC | $247 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 22:35 |
| LOWER60SEC | $170 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 16:10 |
| LOWER6SEC | $114 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 11:55 |
| RAISE5MIN | $80 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 07:30 |
| LOWER5MIN | $57 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 15:20 |
| Total | $11,817 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $3,868 | 0 | $17 | 31 Aug, 16:10 |
| LOWERREG | $2,819 | 0 | $5 | 31 Aug, 09:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $256 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 22:35 |
| LOWER60SEC | $232 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 16:10 |
| RAISE60SEC | $224 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 18:25 |
| LOWER6SEC | $150 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 11:55 |
| LOWER5MIN | $84 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 15:20 |
| RAISE5MIN | $53 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 07:30 |
| Total | $7,686 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $9,713 | 0 | $5 | 31 Aug, 09:35 |
| LOWERREG | $5,401 | 0 | $22 | 31 Aug, 10:25 |
| RAISE60SEC | $585 | 0 | $3 | 31 Aug, 09:35 |
| RAISE6SEC | $455 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 07:45 |
| LOWER6SEC | $151 | 0 | $3 | 31 Aug, 09:35 |
| LOWER60SEC | $83 | 0 | $1 | 31 Aug, 09:35 |
| RAISE5MIN | $5 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 16:30 |
| LOWER5MIN | $0 | 0 | $0 | 31 Aug, 15:20 |
| Total | $16,392 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,327 MW at 18:30 as NSW spot hit $119/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,639 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $100/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 978 MW at 19:00 as VIC spot hit $109/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 441 MW at 19:00 as SA spot hit $115/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 4,246 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $101/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 5,666MWh | -280 |
#2QLD | 5,600MWh | -337 |
#3VIC | 4,771MWh | +481 |
#4SA | 2,187MWh | +235 |
Generation Mix
- Coal55.8% · 113.7 GWh
- Gas2.5% · 5.1 GWh
- Hydro3.0% · 6.1 GWh
- Wind2.7% · 5.6 GWh
- Solar (utility)15.1% · 30.8 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)17.8% · 36.2 GWh
- Battery2.8% · 5.7 GWh
- Other0.3% · 0.7 GWh
- Coal55.6% · 113.9 GWh
- Gas1.3% · 2.7 GWh
- Hydro2.0% · 4.0 GWh
- Wind12.2% · 25.1 GWh
- Solar (utility)12.4% · 25.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)13.3% · 27.2 GWh
- Battery2.7% · 5.6 GWh
- Other0.5% · 1.0 GWh
- Coal62.3% · 98.1 GWh
- Gas1.6% · 2.4 GWh
- Hydro7.6% · 12.0 GWh
- Wind4.1% · 6.5 GWh
- Solar (utility)7.9% · 12.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)13.3% · 20.9 GWh
- Battery3.0% · 4.8 GWh
- Other0.3% · 0.5 GWh
- Gas18.7% · 7.8 GWh
- Wind36.7% · 15.4 GWh
- Solar (utility)9.8% · 4.1 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)29.0% · 12.1 GWh
- Battery5.2% · 2.2 GWh
- Other0.6% · 0.2 GWh
- Gas4.2% · 1.4 GWh
- Hydro76.4% · 25.1 GWh
- Wind14.9% · 4.9 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)4.5% · 1.5 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 36.9%
- VIC 35.8%
- QLD 49.2%
- SA 80.2%
- TAS 107.8%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +43.7 GWh | 0 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −49.5 GWh | 4 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +5.5 GWh | 9 | — |
| V-SA | +3.9 GWh | 11 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | +1.8 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 | 101.1k tCO₂ | 0.490 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 101.0k tCO₂ | 0.487 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 3.7k tCO₂ | 0.085 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 117.3k tCO₂ | 0.737 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 832 tCO₂ | 0.026 tCO₂/MWh |