AGL referred a 500 MW battery project for federal environmental approval under the EPBC Act. The proposed facility at the Tomago smelter site holds a capacity of 1,450 MWh. Separately, the gentailer is investigating the feasibility of a 1,000 MW four-hour duration storage facility near Bathurst in New South Wales. The Bathurst project would provide 4,000 MWh of storage capacity.
The NEM average price reached $82.80/MWh, placing it 53 per cent above the seven-day average of $54.10/MWh. South Australia recorded an average of $91.80/MWh, ranking first in its seven-day range. Queensland reached a maximum price of $420.00/MWh at 05:20.
Valent Energy commenced construction on the 300 MW Blairgowrie battery in Victoria. The facility will provide 600 MWh of storage capacity. In the same state, Akaysha Energy began commissioning its 250 MW Orana battery energy storage system. The Orana project adds 500 MWh of storage capacity to the Victorian grid. Together, the two projects add a combined 550 MW of storage capacity to the network.
AEMO forecasts Australian data centre energy demand to increase from 5 TWh in the 2025-26 financial year to 34 TWh by 2034. This projected demand would consume 13 per cent of national electricity supply. To mitigate grid stability risks, NTT Research is developing photonic processors and nanoscale optical interconnects. These technologies are designed to reduce artificial intelligence server power consumption by 90 per cent.
Renewables reached a 50 per cent generation share in the NEM by late 2024. The renewable share peaked at 80 per cent in October 2024. Renewables supplied 45 per cent of total demand across the 2025-26 financial year. The sector is replacing 1960s to 1980s thermal assets with wind and solar generation. South Australia is targeting 100 per cent net renewable generation by late 2025. Analysis of the 2016 South Australian system black event confirms that tornado-induced transmission failures and restrictive wind farm voltage ride-through settings triggered the statewide outage. ERM analysts warn NEM corporate buyers of a 2030 supply shortfall. The analysts attribute this to expiring legacy contracts, data centre demand and coal retirements. ERM states this creates a tightening window for securing renewable energy procurement before the end of the decade.
WattClarity estimated that the Project EnergyConnect Stage 2 go-live date of 1 October is now inside the short-term time horizon. The new interconnector between New South Wales and South Australia is included in short-term projected assessment of system adequacy results.
The NEM average price was $82.80/MWh. Regional averages were $93.90/MWh in Queensland, $92.30/MWh in New South Wales, $91.80/MWh in South Australia, $69.90/MWh in Victoria and $66.10/MWh in Tasmania. The lowest price was -$16.00/MWh in Tasmania at 11:20. Negative-price hours totalled 7.2 hours in Victoria, 6.5 hours in Tasmania and 0.3 hours in South Australia. The demand peak occurred in New South Wales at 8,982 MW at 18:35. Renewables provided 44.6 per cent of energy, with an instantaneous peak of 74.1 per cent at 11:50.
Brent Crude increased 4.2 per cent to US$107.39 a barrel. Natural Gas rose 11.9 per cent to US$3.38 per million British thermal units. TTF Gas increased 4.5 per cent to EUR75.27/MWh.
The AER approved the Jemena 2026-31 Electricity Pricing and Services Plan. AEMO is consulting on changes to the transportation service point register, with submissions closing on 21 October 2026. The AER is reviewing the Transgrid electricity transmission determination for the 2023 to 2028 period. The AER is also reviewing the AusNet Services transmission revenue proposal for the 2027 to 2032 regulatory period.