The National Energy Market’s planned transition to a 5-minute electricity price settlement rule from the current 30- minute rule has been pushed back from July 1 2021 to October 1. …
Alcoa’s Portland Smelter gets $160m electricity deal to act as giant virtual battery
Alcoa’s Portland aluminium smelter, which accounts for up to 10 percent of Victoria’s electricity demand, has just signed a demand response subsidy deal which will effectively turn it into a …
Bitcoin Mining in Australia – Solving the Energy Problem
The recent historic six-year lows in wholesale electricity prices have suddenly made Bitcoin mining in Australia a very real possibility, especially if mining labs are hooked up directly to renewable …
Early retirement of Queensland coal-fired generator prompts fears of spot price spike
The 700-Megawatt Callide B Queensland coal-fired generator will shut down 10 years ahead of schedule in 2028, prompting fears that night time spot prices will spike. Queensland is very heavily …
Negawatts: Selling negative electricity consumption into the wholesale market
An exciting proposal has been put forward by the Australian Energy Market Commission to allow businesses to sell their curtailed energy demand – negawatts – into the wholesale power market …
January heatwave forces wholesale prices through the roof
January 2019 energy market: National Energy Market future and spot prices soared after parts of Melbourne experienced a blackout over 23-25 January during a particularly brutal heatwave. The spike in …
Demand Response: It’s time to open up the market
Demand Response has been touted by Australia’s Energy Market Operator (AEMO) as one of the measures that can help the power grid remain stable during periods of stress caused by …
RERT energy reserve system was not enough to prevent blackout – Smelter shut down as blackout warnings persist
Victoria and South Australia avoided a blackout on Thursday after the Australian Energy Market Operator ordered Alcoa Australia to power down for an hour and free up an extra 400 …
NSW Government to launch $50-million demand response plan
The New South Wales government is launching a $50-million plan to create a virtual battery through household demand response projects. How could this work? The plan would involve participants switching …
What is demand response?
Demand response has become a buzzword in the energy industry and one of its strongest advocates is Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) chief Audrey Zibelman, who registered success with the …