24 September 2026

AGL referred the 500 MW / 1,450 MWh Liddell Battery project for federal environmental approval under the EPBC Act. Separately, the gentailer is investigating a potential 1,000 MW / 4,000 MWh four-hour duration battery storage facility near Bathurst, New South Wales.\n\nThe NEM average price reached $97.20/MWh on 23 September, ranking first for the week and comparing to $52.50/MWh on the same weekday last week. The New South Wales average price of $119.60/MWh ranked first within the seven days, above the seven-day average of $76.10/MWh. The highest price was $377/MWh in Queensland at 02:50. South Australia recorded 6.7 hours of negative prices, reaching minus $18.60/MWh at 08:35. The New South Wales demand peak reached 9,009 MW at 18:30, while renewables accounted for 44.4 per cent of energy across the day.\n\nValent Energy commenced construction on the 300 MW / 600 MWh Blairgowrie battery. Akaysha Energy began commissioning its 250 MW / 500 MWh Palmerston battery energy storage system. These two projects add 550 MW of storage capacity to the Victorian grid.\n\nAEMO forecasts Australian data centre energy demand will triple to 15 TWh by 2030. The market operator estimates this demand will reach 13 per cent of national supply by 2034. Researchers at NTT are developing photonic processors and nanoscale optical interconnects designed to reduce artificial intelligence server power consumption by up to 90 per cent. ERM analysts warn NEM corporate buyers of a 2030 supply deficit driven by expiring legacy contracts, data centre demand, and coal retirements. WattClarity reported this projected contracting cliff indicates that current renewable availability will tighten as project delivery risks persist.\n\nRenewables reached a 50 per cent generation share in the NEM by late 2024, peaking at 80 per cent in October. Renewable sources supplied 45 per cent of total demand across the 2025-26 financial year. The transition leverages low-cost wind and solar to replace aging 1960s to 1980s thermal assets. South Australia is targeting 100 per cent net renewables by late 2025. WattClarity reported the Project EnergyConnect Stage 2 go-live date of 1 October is now inside the short-term time horizon. WattClarity stated the new New South Wales to South Australia interconnector is included in short-term PASA results. Analysts reflecting on the 2016 South Australian system black event highlight how outdated voltage ride-through settings on wind farms triggered a total state blackout following storm-induced transmission failures.\n\nBrent Crude fell 3.3 per cent to US$99.66 a barrel. Natural Gas increased 4.0 per cent to US$3.14/mmbtu. TTF Gas rose 3.2 per cent to EUR74.31/MWh.\n\nAEMO is consulting on changes to the transportation service point register, with submissions closing on 21 October. Jemena welcomed the AER approval of its 2026-31 Electricity Pricing and Services Plan. The AER has open determinations for the Transgrid 2023-28 period and the AusNet Services 2027-32 period. Endeavour Energy expects to restore power to approximately 90 per cent of customers impacted by damaging gale-force winds by 10pm tonight. Transgrid submitted responses to the AER review of the standardised capex model consultation paper, the draft 2026 rate of return instrument, and the network resilience guidelines consultation paper. Transgrid also submitted responses to the AEMO draft Project EnergyConnect market integration draft go-live plan and the draft NEM TNSP negative settlement residue procedure.