NEM
NEM Daily analysis

Sunday 6 September 2026

Trading day 2026-09-06

Market Snapshot

Queensland price volatility persists as NEM renewable share peaks at 73 percent

Regional average prices ranged from $43.80/MWh in Queensland to $63.60/MWh in South Australia, with NSW recording the highest VWAP of $68.20/MWh. Queensland was the only region to experience negative pricing, contrasting with NSW where prices peaked at $113.80/MWh.

Demand peaked across all regions between 18:00 and 19:40, with NSW reaching a maximum load of 8,317 MW. Total energy consumption was highest in NSW at 291 GWh, followed by Queensland at 255.9 GWh.

Coal remained the primary generation source at 47.6%, while wind and solar combined for 40.3% of the total fuel mix. Batteries contributed 3.2% of dispatch with 19,040 MWh discharged, supporting the grid as solar utility and rooftop contributions tapered.

FCAS costs were led by Raise Regulation at $33,232, with the highest price of $75.00/MWh occurring in the Lower Regulation service in Tasmania. Interconnector flows were dominated by exports from NSW to Queensland totaling 30,883 MWh.

Today · Pre-dispatch forecasts indicate a price peak of $319.04/MWh in Queensland at 19:30 and $145.00/MWh in South Australia at 18:30.

Why it matters · The daily average of $48.90/MWh sits 16.2% above the 7-day average, breaking a volatile trend where prices recently fell as low as $15.80/MWh. This shift occurred despite a high 47.5% renewable share and significant battery activity, as Queensland's frequent negative intervals failed to offset higher evening peaks in NSW and South Australia.

NSW $60VIC $47QLD $44SA $64TAS $48
Numbers-only recap · gemini-3-flash-preview

Prices

Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average

NSW VIC QLD SA TAS
$0 $30 $60 $90 $120 $0 $30 $60 $90 $120 -$40 -$2 $35 $73 $110 $0 $30 $60 $90 $120 $0 $28 $55 $83 $110 04:00 10:00 16:00 22:00 04:00
Region Avg VWAP Min Max Neg Cap
NSW $60 $68 $0 $114 0 0
QLD $44 $53 -$35 $100 192 0
SA $64 $70 $3 $106 0 0
VIC $47 $52 $0 $111 0 0
TAS $48 $50 $1 $98 0 0

Min · Max are 5-minute dispatch extremes; the price chart plots 30-minute averages, so its peak reads lower.

Demand

NSW
Peak
8,317MW
18:45
Trough
3,380MW
12:05
Energy
291.0GWh
QLD
Peak
7,386MW
18:00
Trough
3,142MW
11:05
Energy
255.9GWh
SA
Peak
1,594MW
19:40
Trough
460MW
14:45
Energy
52.4GWh
VIC
Peak
6,378MW
18:45
Trough
3,660MW
13:35
Energy
233.6GWh
TAS
Peak
1,168MW
18:50
Trough
822MW
13:35
Energy
46.7GWh

FCAS

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$2,6280$166 Sept, 15:50
LOWERREG$5600$146 Sept, 16:05
LOWER60SEC$1480$06 Sept, 13:35
RAISE6SEC$1100$06 Sept, 17:55
RAISE60SEC$950$06 Sept, 06:25
LOWER5MIN$920$06 Sept, 13:30
LOWER6SEC$670$06 Sept, 13:30
RAISE5MIN$280$06 Sept, 18:00
Total$3,727

Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$5,9500$166 Sept, 15:50
LOWERREG$3,3540$146 Sept, 16:05
RAISE6SEC$3240$06 Sept, 17:55
RAISE60SEC$2470$06 Sept, 06:25
LOWER60SEC$1880$06 Sept, 13:35
LOWER5MIN$760$06 Sept, 13:30
LOWER6SEC$710$06 Sept, 13:30
RAISE5MIN$270$06 Sept, 18:00
Total$10,238

Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$10,6130$166 Sept, 15:50
LOWERREG$3,0190$146 Sept, 16:05
LOWER60SEC$4220$06 Sept, 13:35
LOWER5MIN$2420$06 Sept, 13:30
RAISE6SEC$2110$06 Sept, 17:55
RAISE60SEC$2030$06 Sept, 06:25
LOWER6SEC$1100$06 Sept, 13:30
RAISE5MIN$730$06 Sept, 18:00
Total$14,893

Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$4,3690$166 Sept, 15:50
LOWERREG$4,0390$146 Sept, 16:05
LOWER60SEC$2570$06 Sept, 13:35
RAISE6SEC$2340$06 Sept, 17:55
RAISE60SEC$1920$06 Sept, 06:25
LOWER6SEC$1350$06 Sept, 13:30
LOWER5MIN$1140$06 Sept, 13:30
RAISE5MIN$430$06 Sept, 18:00
Total$9,383

Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

ServiceCostSpikesPeakWhen
RAISEREG$9,6730$86 Sept, 16:25
LOWERREG$5,0010$756 Sept, 15:10
LOWER6SEC$8880$426 Sept, 16:20
RAISE6SEC$3650$06 Sept, 04:05
RAISE60SEC$3640$06 Sept, 04:05
LOWER60SEC$450$06 Sept, 13:35
LOWER5MIN$90$06 Sept, 13:30
RAISE5MIN$00$06 Sept, 18:00
Total$16,344

Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.

Battery dispatch

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 1,281 MW at 20:30 as NSW spot hit $100/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 1,379 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $92/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 853 MW at 19:00 as VIC spot hit $101/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 418 MW at 07:30 as SA spot hit $84/MWh.

Peak moment

Fleet discharged 3,587 MW at 19:00 as TAS spot hit $91/MWh.

Discharged
7,061MWh
peak 1,281 MW · 20:30
Charged
7,506MWh
peak 1,466 MW
Net
-445MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
94%
discharge / charge ratio
Discharged
5,089MWh
peak 1,379 MW · 18:30
Charged
6,340MWh
peak 1,412 MW
Net
-1,251MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
80%
discharge / charge ratio
Discharged
4,409MWh
peak 853 MW · 19:00
Charged
1,891MWh
peak 488 MW
Net
+2,518MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
233%
discharge / charge ratio
Discharged
2,481MWh
peak 418 MW · 07:30
Charged
1,723MWh
peak 430 MW
Net
+758MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
144%
discharge / charge ratio
NEM-wide
Discharged
19,040MWh
peak 3,587 MW · 19:00
Charged
17,461MWh
peak 3,320 MW
Net
+1,579MWh
discharge − charge
Round-trip
109%
discharge / charge ratio

Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average

Net MWdischarge ↑ · charge ↓NSWQLDVICSATAS$/MWh
-4.0 GW-2.0 GW0 MW2.0 GW4.0 GW-$50$0$50$100$15023:3006:3713:4520:5204:00

Regional dispatch ranking

RegionDischargedNet
#1NSW
7,061MWh
-445
#2QLD
5,089MWh
-1,251
#3VIC
4,409MWh
+2,518
#4SA
2,481MWh
+758

Generation Mix

TOP FUEL 47.8%
  • Coal47.8% · 90.0 GWh
  • Gas0.5% · 1.0 GWh
  • Hydro3.5% · 6.6 GWh
  • Wind12.8% · 24.1 GWh
  • Solar (utility)11.8% · 22.3 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)19.5% · 36.7 GWh
  • Battery3.8% · 7.1 GWh
  • Other0.3% · 0.5 GWh
TOP FUEL 55.2%
  • Coal55.2% · 104.3 GWh
  • Gas2.0% · 3.8 GWh
  • Hydro2.2% · 4.2 GWh
  • Wind9.2% · 17.5 GWh
  • Solar (utility)10.2% · 19.2 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)18.5% · 35.1 GWh
  • Battery2.7% · 5.1 GWh
TOP FUEL 55.3%
  • Coal55.3% · 85.9 GWh
  • Gas0.5% · 0.8 GWh
  • Hydro3.5% · 5.5 GWh
  • Wind20.3% · 31.6 GWh
  • Solar (utility)6.4% · 9.9 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)9.5% · 14.8 GWh
  • Battery2.8% · 4.4 GWh
  • Other1.6% · 2.5 GWh
TOP FUEL 33.7%
  • Gas19.3% · 5.8 GWh
  • Wind33.7% · 10.2 GWh
  • Solar (utility)11.1% · 3.4 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)25.2% · 7.6 GWh
  • Battery8.2% · 2.5 GWh
  • Other2.5% · 0.8 GWh
TOP FUEL 66.5%
  • Gas13.5% · 3.4 GWh
  • Hydro66.5% · 16.9 GWh
  • Wind13.6% · 3.5 GWh
  • Solar (rooftop)6.4% · 1.6 GWh
coalgashydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopotherBattery (charge)
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:0010.0 GW 0
coalgashydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopBattery (charge)
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:009.7 GW 0
coalgashydrobattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopotherBattery (charge)
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:007.0 GW 0
gasbattery dischargewindsolar utilitysolar rooftopotherBattery (charge)
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:002.1 GW 0
gashydrowindsolar rooftop
23:3005:3711:4517:5200:001.7 GW 0

Renewables

NSW · Daily renewable share
47.4%
VIC · Daily renewable share
46.6%
QLD · Daily renewable share
46.7%
SA · Daily renewable share
64.6%
TAS · Daily renewable share
79.5%
Peak instantaneous
72.8%
at 11:05
Daily NEM-wide share
47.5%
By region (daily share)
  • NSW
    47.4%
  • VIC
    46.6%
  • QLD
    46.7%
  • SA
    64.6%
  • TAS
    79.5%

Interconnectors

Region (proxy) Net flow Direction changes Hours at limit
N-Q-MNSP1 +28.7 GWh 4 —
NSW1-QLD1 −30.9 GWh 18 —
VIC1-NSW1 +19.6 GWh 10 —
V-SA −14.7 GWh 12 —
T-V-MNSP1 +893 MWh 0 —

Per-region net of NETINTERCHANGE proxied to a representative interconnector. Full per-interconnector decomposition + hours-at-limit needs DINTERCONNECTOR parsing (follow-up).

Emissions

Total emissions
280.0k tCO₂
▼ 9.7% vs same day last week
Intensity by region
NSW 78.8k tCO₂ 0.410 tCO₂/MWh
QLD 93.0k tCO₂ 0.484 tCO₂/MWh
SA 2.9k tCO₂ 0.094 tCO₂/MWh
VIC 103.2k tCO₂ 0.670 tCO₂/MWh
TAS 2.1k tCO₂ 0.083 tCO₂/MWh