Sunday 13 September 2026
Trading day 2026-09-13
NEM daily average prices drop sixty percent amid high renewable penetration
Regional average prices varied significantly across the NEM, ranging from 13.00 dollars in Victoria to 40.10 dollars in New South Wales. Negative price intervals were frequent in all regions, with South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania each recording over 280 such periods. The maximum price reached across the entire market was 138.00 dollars per megawatt hour in South Australia.
Operational demand peaked between 18:35 and 19:10 across all regions, with New South Wales reaching a maximum of 8,528 megawatts. The generation mix was led by coal at 43.7 percent, while combined wind and solar contributed 48.2 percent of total energy. Hydro generation remained low at 4.1 percent of the daily total.
Batteries discharged 13,174 megawatt hours into the grid but remained net consumers with a total net load of 7,146 megawatt hours. Frequency Control Ancillary Services costs were highest in the regulation markets, with New South Wales and Tasmania seeing the peak prices. Total daily emissions settled at 246,445 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Today · Forward projections indicate a peak price of 319.04 dollars in Queensland at 19:30, with other regions remaining below 150.00 dollars.
Why it matters · The daily average price of 20.60 dollars sits 61.2 percent below the weekly average, breaking a seven-day trend of higher volatility. This price collapse coincided with a 52.3 percent renewable share and a 12 percent drop in emissions, indicating a significant shift in the generation merit order.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $40 | $47 | -$11 | $89 | 168 | 0 |
| QLD | $36 | $43 | -$13 | $80 | 220 | 0 |
| SA | $23 | $27 | -$19 | $138 | 324 | 0 |
| VIC | $13 | $16 | -$17 | $65 | 292 | 0 |
| TAS | $17 | $17 | -$15 | $63 | 280 | 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 | $3,285 | 0 | $16 | 13 Sept, 16:00 |
| LOWERREG | $1,043 | 0 | $6 | 13 Sept, 17:05 |
| LOWER5MIN | $157 | 0 | $3 | 13 Sept, 16:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $134 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $64 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 20:10 |
| LOWER6SEC | $58 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| RAISE60SEC | $49 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 18:05 |
| RAISE5MIN | $21 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 20:10 |
| Total | $4,810 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $9,470 | 0 | $16 | 13 Sept, 16:00 |
| LOWERREG | $5,554 | 0 | $6 | 13 Sept, 17:05 |
| LOWER60SEC | $380 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| LOWER5MIN | $236 | 0 | $3 | 13 Sept, 16:00 |
| RAISE6SEC | $141 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 20:10 |
| RAISE60SEC | $100 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 18:05 |
| LOWER6SEC | $92 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| RAISE5MIN | $20 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 20:10 |
| Total | $15,993 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $5,929 | 0 | $16 | 13 Sept, 16:00 |
| LOWERREG | $3,210 | 0 | $6 | 13 Sept, 17:05 |
| LOWER60SEC | $280 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $125 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 20:10 |
| RAISE60SEC | $111 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 18:05 |
| LOWER5MIN | $99 | 0 | $3 | 13 Sept, 16:00 |
| LOWER6SEC | $55 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| RAISE5MIN | $48 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 20:10 |
| Total | $9,856 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $4,458 | 0 | $16 | 13 Sept, 16:00 |
| LOWERREG | $3,561 | 0 | $6 | 13 Sept, 17:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $1,338 | 0 | $5 | 13 Sept, 21:05 |
| RAISE6SEC | $709 | 0 | $5 | 13 Sept, 21:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $296 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| LOWER5MIN | $222 | 0 | $3 | 13 Sept, 16:00 |
| LOWER6SEC | $126 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| RAISE5MIN | $26 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 20:10 |
| Total | $10,737 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $10,097 | 0 | $5 | 13 Sept, 05:05 |
| LOWERREG | $9,186 | 0 | $75 | 13 Sept, 12:35 |
| RAISE6SEC | $569 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 04:05 |
| RAISE60SEC | $566 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 04:05 |
| LOWER60SEC | $80 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| LOWER6SEC | $52 | 0 | $1 | 13 Sept, 13:40 |
| LOWER5MIN | $48 | 0 | $2 | 13 Sept, 15:55 |
| RAISE5MIN | $4 | 0 | $0 | 13 Sept, 19:00 |
| Total | $20,602 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,249 MW at 19:00 as NSW spot hit $72/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,570 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $72/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 463 MW at 20:30 as VIC spot hit $61/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 117 MW at 22:00 as SA spot hit $69/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 2,959 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $34/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 6,036MWh | -1,755 |
#2QLD | 5,257MWh | -951 |
#3VIC | 1,388MWh | -3,125 |
#4SA | 493MWh | -1,314 |
Generation Mix
- Coal52.3% · 94.3 GWh
- Gas0.6% · 1.0 GWh
- Hydro4.6% · 8.3 GWh
- Wind5.4% · 9.8 GWh
- Solar (utility)13.5% · 24.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)20.3% · 36.5 GWh
- Battery3.3% · 6.0 GWh
- Coal52.1% · 95.2 GWh
- Gas1.4% · 2.5 GWh
- Hydro1.4% · 2.6 GWh
- Wind13.0% · 23.8 GWh
- Solar (utility)10.7% · 19.6 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)18.5% · 33.8 GWh
- Battery2.9% · 5.3 GWh
- Coal41.8% · 63.6 GWh
- Hydro0.6% · 0.9 GWh
- Wind41.0% · 62.5 GWh
- Solar (utility)3.8% · 5.7 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)12.0% · 18.3 GWh
- Battery0.9% · 1.4 GWh
- Gas6.3% · 2.6 GWh
- Wind76.7% · 31.9 GWh
- Solar (utility)1.1% · 0.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)14.7% · 6.1 GWh
- Battery1.2% · 0.5 GWh
- Gas14.4% · 3.1 GWh
- Hydro56.2% · 12.1 GWh
- Wind25.1% · 5.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)4.4% · 0.9 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 39.5%
- VIC 65.5%
- QLD 50.9%
- SA 104.1%
- TAS 66.1%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +22.7 GWh | 2 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −47.6 GWh | 0 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +34.7 GWh | 0 | — |
| V-SA | +3.5 GWh | 17 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | −7.9 GWh | 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 | 82.0k tCO₂ | 0.445 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 84.9k tCO₂ | 0.457 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 1.4k tCO₂ | 0.033 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 76.3k tCO₂ | 0.506 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 1.9k tCO₂ | 0.088 tCO₂/MWh |