Wednesday 22 July 2026
Trading day 2026-07-22
Regional price divergence as southern states record frequent negative intervals
Regional average prices showed a significant spread with New South Wales reaching 78.2 dollars while Tasmania settled at 47.2 dollars. Negative pricing was concentrated in Victoria and South Australia with 66 and 50 intervals respectively while northern regions saw no sub-zero pricing. Total demand reached its highest point in New South Wales at 10,536 megawatts during the evening peak at 18:30.
Renewable generation reached an instantaneous peak of 63.6 percent at 11:40 with wind contributing 16.6 percent of the daily total. Solar utility and rooftop sources combined for 15.3 percent of the mix while hydro provided 6.9 percent. Battery storage discharged 18,670 megawatt hours into the grid representing 2.8 percent of total generation.
FCAS costs were led by the Raise Regulation service in New South Wales which totaled 31,388 dollars for the day. Total emissions across the NEM were 370,040 tonnes of carbon dioxide which represents a three percent decrease compared to the same day last week. Interconnector flows showed significant movement from Victoria into New South Wales and South Australia.
Today · Predispatch forecasts indicate a peak price of 319.04 dollars in Queensland at 19:30 while other regions are expected to remain below 150 dollars.
Why it matters · The daily average of 61.3 dollars sits 24.7 percent below the weekly average and continues a volatile trend following yesterday's 88.0 dollar peak. This price reduction occurred alongside a three percent drop in emissions and significant battery discharge despite coal maintaining a majority share of the fuel mix.
Prices
Trading day · 04:00 → 04:00 AEST · 30-min average
| Region | Avg | VWAP | Min | Max | Neg | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $78 | $80 | $43 | $124 | 0 | 0 |
| QLD | $73 | $75 | $41 | $115 | 0 | 0 |
| SA | $67 | $71 | -$5 | $138 | 50 | 0 |
| VIC | $50 | $54 | -$5 | $128 | 66 | 0 |
| TAS | $47 | $49 | -$10 | $115 | 10 | 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 | $3,864 | 0 | $20 | 22 July, 16:00 |
| LOWERREG | $648 | 0 | $5 | 22 July, 15:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $178 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 15:20 |
| RAISE6SEC | $96 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 06:50 |
| LOWER6SEC | $80 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:55 |
| RAISE60SEC | $71 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 18:15 |
| LOWER5MIN | $51 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:35 |
| RAISE5MIN | $29 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 19:50 |
| Total | $5,017 | |||
Cost = NSW RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $5,884 | 0 | $20 | 22 July, 16:00 |
| LOWERREG | $2,364 | 0 | $5 | 22 July, 15:10 |
| LOWER60SEC | $409 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 15:20 |
| RAISE6SEC | $313 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 06:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $183 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 18:15 |
| LOWER6SEC | $147 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:55 |
| LOWER5MIN | $76 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:35 |
| RAISE5MIN | $42 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 19:50 |
| Total | $9,418 | |||
Cost = QLD RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $9,174 | 0 | $20 | 22 July, 16:00 |
| LOWERREG | $2,253 | 0 | $5 | 22 July, 15:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $184 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 06:50 |
| RAISE60SEC | $183 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 18:15 |
| LOWER60SEC | $168 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 15:20 |
| RAISE5MIN | $67 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 19:50 |
| LOWER6SEC | $47 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:55 |
| LOWER5MIN | $38 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:35 |
| Total | $12,113 | |||
Cost = VIC RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $4,279 | 0 | $20 | 22 July, 16:00 |
| LOWERREG | $2,224 | 0 | $5 | 22 July, 15:10 |
| RAISE6SEC | $237 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 06:50 |
| LOWER60SEC | $209 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 15:20 |
| RAISE60SEC | $186 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 18:15 |
| LOWER6SEC | $109 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:55 |
| RAISE5MIN | $65 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 19:50 |
| LOWER5MIN | $64 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:35 |
| Total | $7,373 | |||
Cost = SA RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
| Service | Cost | Spikes | Peak | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISEREG | $8,186 | 0 | $5 | 22 July, 06:35 |
| LOWERREG | $2,237 | 0 | $3 | 22 July, 05:40 |
| RAISE6SEC | $256 | 0 | $3 | 22 July, 15:25 |
| RAISE60SEC | $250 | 0 | $3 | 22 July, 15:25 |
| LOWER60SEC | $25 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 12:40 |
| LOWER6SEC | $24 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:15 |
| RAISE5MIN | $11 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:50 |
| LOWER5MIN | $0 | 0 | $0 | 22 July, 14:35 |
| Total | $10,988 | |||
Cost = TAS RRP × cleared MW per 5-min interval.
Battery dispatch
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,361 MW at 18:00 as NSW spot hit $108/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 1,139 MW at 18:30 as QLD spot hit $92/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 987 MW at 08:00 as VIC spot hit $56/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 405 MW at 20:30 as SA spot hit $118/MWh.
Peak moment
Fleet discharged 3,489 MW at 18:30 as TAS spot hit $86/MWh.
Fleet net dispatch · spot-price overlay · 30-min average
Regional dispatch ranking
| Region | Discharged | Net |
|---|---|---|
#1NSW | 6,419MWh | -168 |
#2QLD | 5,531MWh | -934 |
#3VIC | 4,895MWh | -510 |
#4SA | 1,825MWh | -220 |
Generation Mix
- Coal66.4% · 144.9 GWh
- Gas0.6% · 1.4 GWh
- Hydro3.2% · 6.9 GWh
- Wind6.2% · 13.6 GWh
- Solar (utility)9.9% · 21.6 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)10.6% · 23.0 GWh
- Battery2.9% · 6.4 GWh
- Other0.1% · 0.3 GWh
- Coal66.1% · 128.2 GWh
- Gas3.9% · 7.6 GWh
- Hydro2.2% · 4.3 GWh
- Wind6.9% · 13.4 GWh
- Solar (utility)8.4% · 16.2 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)9.3% · 18.1 GWh
- Battery2.9% · 5.5 GWh
- Other0.2% · 0.5 GWh
- Coal53.3% · 101.6 GWh
- Hydro5.1% · 9.7 GWh
- Wind30.1% · 57.3 GWh
- Solar (utility)3.4% · 6.6 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)5.5% · 10.5 GWh
- Battery2.6% · 4.9 GWh
- Gas22.8% · 8.0 GWh
- Wind52.6% · 18.3 GWh
- Solar (utility)6.7% · 2.3 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)12.6% · 4.4 GWh
- Battery5.2% · 1.8 GWh
- Gas9.9% · 4.0 GWh
- Hydro63.5% · 25.4 GWh
- Wind24.9% · 10.0 GWh
- Solar (rooftop)1.7% · 0.7 GWh
Renewables
- NSW 29.4%
- VIC 50.7%
- QLD 32.7%
- SA 58.1%
- TAS 113.6%
Interconnectors
| Region (proxy) | Net flow | Direction changes | Hours at limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| N-Q-MNSP1 | +20.0 GWh | 20 | — |
| NSW1-QLD1 | −39.8 GWh | 2 | — |
| VIC1-NSW1 | +28.6 GWh | 16 | — |
| V-SA | −22.0 GWh | 6 | — |
| T-V-MNSP1 | +17.3 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 | 126.8k tCO₂ | 0.573 tCO₂/MWh |
| QLD | 115.9k tCO₂ | 0.589 tCO₂/MWh |
| SA | 3.9k tCO₂ | 0.108 tCO₂/MWh |
| VIC | 121.0k tCO₂ | 0.630 tCO₂/MWh |
| TAS | 2.4k tCO₂ | 0.061 tCO₂/MWh |