Friday 16 October 2026
Trading day 2026-10-16
SA and VIC record 11.3 hours of negative prices
NSW recorded the highest average price at $87.0/MWh, while SA and VIC both experienced 11.3 hours of negative prices without any cap intervals across the NEM.
Coal contributed 47.8 per cent of the generation mix, followed by wind at 20.4 per cent and rooftop solar at 16.2 per cent. Batteries discharged 14,516 MWh across the day, ending with a net position of negative 1274 MWh.
Lower regulation FCAS costs reached $159,618, and raise regulation costs totalled $138,707, with both services recording two spike intervals in TAS. AEMO's notice at 10:15 stated a lack of reserve level 2 condition was not declared in QLD.
Total emissions for the day were 284,582 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which was 11.1 per cent above the same weekday last week.
Today · Pre dispatch forecasts show NSW prices peaking at $106.52/MWh at 03:00, while QLD is forecast to reach a peak price of $96.12/MWh at 22:00.
In context · The NEM average price of $65.9/MWh was below the seven day average of $88.7/MWh, ranking sixth for the week. NSW recorded its lowest daily average of the past seven days, placing it below its weekly average of $219.7/MWh.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $87 | $88 | $48 | $130 | 0 | 0 |
| QLD | $80 | $81 | $41 | $123 | 0 | 0 |
| SA | $55 | $66 | -$11 | $152 | 136 | 0 |
| VIC | $52 | $58 | -$11 | $120 | 136 | 0 |
| TAS | $56 | $58 | -$12 | $118 | 128 | 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 | $4,331 | 0 | $12 | 16 Oct, 05:15 |
| LOWERREG | $441 | 0 | $4 | 16 Oct, 15:20 |
| RAISE60SEC | $128 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 09:55 |
| RAISE6SEC | $121 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 00:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $32 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 05:35 |
| LOWER5MIN | $28 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 15:10 |
| RAISE5MIN | $28 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 00:00 |
| LOWER6SEC | $23 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 05:40 |
| Total | $5,131 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOWER6SEC | $10,277 | 0 | $7 | 16 Oct, 13:25 |
| LOWER60SEC | $8,432 | 0 | $15 | 16 Oct, 13:25 |
| RAISEREG | $7,225 | 0 | $12 | 16 Oct, 05:15 |
| LOWERREG | $3,282 | 0 | $7 | 16 Oct, 13:25 |
| LOWER5MIN | $3,129 | 0 | $7 | 16 Oct, 13:25 |
| RAISE6SEC | $152 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 00:00 |
| RAISE60SEC | $108 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 18:10 |
| RAISE5MIN | $21 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 00:00 |
| Total | $32,626 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $7,400 | 0 | $12 | 16 Oct, 05:15 |
| LOWERREG | $1,546 | 0 | $4 | 16 Oct, 15:20 |
| RAISE60SEC | $139 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 09:55 |
| RAISE6SEC | $114 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 00:00 |
| LOWER60SEC | $55 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 05:35 |
| RAISE5MIN | $41 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 00:00 |
| LOWER6SEC | $32 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 05:40 |
| LOWER5MIN | $28 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 15:10 |
| Total | $9,355 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOWERREG | $2,633 | 0 | $4 | 16 Oct, 15:20 |
| RAISEREG | $2,294 | 0 | $12 | 16 Oct, 05:15 |
| RAISE6SEC | $168 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 00:00 |
| RAISE60SEC | $147 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 09:55 |
| LOWER60SEC | $54 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 05:35 |
| LOWER6SEC | $40 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 05:40 |
| LOWER5MIN | $31 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 15:10 |
| RAISE5MIN | $29 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 00:00 |
| Total | $5,396 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOWERREG | $151,715 | 2 | $17,660 | 17 Oct, 03:40 |
| RAISEREG | $117,457 | 2 | $18,524 | 17 Oct, 03:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $1,409 | 0 | $20 | 16 Oct, 06:20 |
| RAISE60SEC | $779 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 05:05 |
| LOWER6SEC | $42 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 06:25 |
| LOWER60SEC | $42 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 06:25 |
| RAISE5MIN | $1 | 0 | $0 | 17 Oct, 04:35 |
| LOWER5MIN | $0 | 0 | $0 | 16 Oct, 15:10 |
| Total | $271,445 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,096 MW at 19:30 as NSW spot hit $93/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 870 MW at 20:00 as QLD spot hit $91/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,162 MW at 19:30 as VIC spot hit $90/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 405 MW at 20:00 as SA spot hit $99/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,456 MW at 20:00 as TAS spot hit $94/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 4,597MWh | +597 |
#2VIC | 4,301MWh | -918 |
#3QLD | 4,100MWh | -167 |
#4SA | 1,518MWh | -787 |
Generation Mix
- Coal45.3% · 88.8 GWh
- Gas0.6% · 1.1 GWh
- Hydro4.4% · 8.7 GWh
- Wind18.2% · 35.6 GWh
- Solar (utility)11.3% · 22.2 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)17.0% · 33.3 GWh
- Battery2.3% · 4.6 GWh
- Other0.8% · 1.6 GWh
- Coal60.1% · 115.4 GWh
- Gas0.7% · 1.4 GWh
- Hydro2.2% · 4.2 GWh
- Wind16.0% · 30.6 GWh
- Solar (utility)6.5% · 12.4 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)11.9% · 22.8 GWh
- Battery2.1% · 4.1 GWh
- Other0.5% · 1.1 GWh
- Coal52.1% · 87.7 GWh
- Gas0.2% · 0.4 GWh
- Hydro1.0% · 1.8 GWh
- Wind22.0% · 37.0 GWh
- Solar (utility)5.5% · 9.3 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)16.6% · 27.9 GWh
- Battery2.6% · 4.3 GWh
- Gas8.3% · 3.0 GWh
- Wind45.2% · 16.5 GWh
- Solar (utility)7.0% · 2.6 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)35.3% · 12.8 GWh
- Battery4.2% · 1.5 GWh
- Gas0.1% · 0.0 GWh
- Hydro63.4% · 12.4 GWh
- Wind25.7% · 5.1 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)10.8% · 2.1 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 49.5%
- VIC 53.0%
- QLD 42.6%
- SA 84.9%
- TAS 69.1%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +24.2 GWh | 8 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −32.0 GWh | 2 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +33.5 GWh | 4 | — |
| V-SA | −6.0 GWh | 18 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | −17.4 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 | 77.8k tCO₂ | 0.396 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 101.6k tCO₂ | 0.528 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 1.6k tCO₂ | 0.044 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 103.6k tCO₂ | 0.613 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 7 tCO₂ | 0.000 tCO₂/MWh |