Analysis

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Gas outlook highlights peaking plant role in transition

Apart from raising some alarm bells over future potential gas shortfalls, the release of the Australian Energy Market Operator’s assessment of gas needs again highlighted the important role gas generation will play in the energy transition. Gas generation is seen increasingly as a “strategic reserve for power system reliability and security” and “will be critical when it runs”. We take a look.

BY Carl Kitchen Apr 04 2024

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Negative prices and revenues in the NEM over the past decade

Negative prices have become an increasing feature of the NEM. Here we explore negative spot prices through the lens of negative spot revenues as well as their ratio to positive revenues. Additionally we assess the possible outlook for negative prices/revenues and consider other supply and demand metrics that may influence future negative prices/revenues.

BY Peter Brook Apr 04 2024

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Energy Dynamics Report - A Tale of Minimum Operational Demand and Wholesale Price declines

The third quarter saw significant price declines compared with the corresponding quarter in 2022 right across the NEM. At the same time with increased output from solar and wind generation inin Queensland’s case, minimum operational demand records were set or equaled in every region. The quarter also saw the highest-ever level of negative price intervals with all regions showing an increase. We dive in to the pricing and operational demand detail of AEMO’s Q3 Quarterly Energy Dynamics Report.

BY Australian Energy Council Nov 09 2023

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Consumer affordability trends in the retail energy market

The recent AER State of The Energy Market report highlights customer affordability trends in the retail electricity market, as well as market impacts from the increasing efficiency of homes and demand response technologies. The report also looks at hardship programs offered by retailers and other support available to consumers.

BY Australian Energy Council Oct 26 2023

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International Electricity Summit 2023: Australia goes to Washington D.C.

The International Electricity Summit is held every 12 – 18 months and brings together electricity industry leaders from around the globe to examine the major issues and headwinds facing the sector. It is an invaluable opportunity to meet colleagues from other developed economies and talk together to understand the challenges occurring in electricity markets globally.

BY AEC & ENA Oct 19 2023

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Green energy superpower

As Australia undergoes its energy transition, there has been discussion around the country’s potential to establish itself as a ‘green energy superpower’ within a future global green economy. Illustrating this discussion is a recently released report by the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth.

BY Braeden Keen Oct 19 2023

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NEM generation profile 2022-23

The AER’s 2023 State of the Energy Market highlights the generation mix across the NEM as well as emerging trends. We take a look at what key developments occurred in the generation mix and how they impacted price trends throughout the 2022-23 financial year.

BY Australian Energy Council Oct 12 2023

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Data centres: A 24hr power source?

Data centres play a critical role in enabling the storage and processing of vast amounts of online data. However they are also known for their significant energy consumption, which has raised concerns about their environmental impact and operating costs. But can data centres be fully sustainable, or even a source of power?

BY Australian Energy Council Oct 12 2023

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Supporting customers with high energy costs: A retailer perspective

We take a look inside energy retail businesses to see what support is offered to customers facing hardship. While retailers have a range of relevant regulatory obligations, their programs go over and above their obligations to help customers in payment difficulty or at risk of payment difficulty. Retailers take their role as providers of essential services very seriously and the intensive monitoring and reporting of their obligations illustrates this.

BY Jo De Silva Sep 14 2023

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The Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism: Leading a horse to water

After being first recommended in 2011 by the AEMC's Power of Choice Review, and followed by a decade-long passionate debate, the Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism was finally implemented on 24 October 2021. Two years later we look back and see if it was worth all the effort.

BY Ben Skinner Sep 07 2023

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Nuclear power for Australia: A potted history

Nuclear power has re-emerged as part of our energy debate with the Federal Opposition proposing a coal-to-nuclear transition. While it does wax and wane a look back at the political arguments around nuclear power show that it has never been too far from mainstream arguments about and resurfaces from time-to-time with similar themes and arguments. Most recently, and like many things relating to energy, it can also quickly become enmeshed in the so-called “culture wars”.

BY Carl Kitchen Aug 31 2023

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Government energy bill relief measures: How do they stack up?

A lot has been written about the high cost of living, and the impact on the ability of customers to pay their energy bills. With the Default Offers in Victoria, NSW, South Australia and Queensland increasing by around 25 per cent, the pressure on energy bills is mounting. So what are governments and regulators doing to support customers to manage high energy costs? We take a look at the reforms currently underway, and how they might impact retailers’ already supporting customers experiencing payment difficulty.

BY Ben Barnes Aug 31 2023

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Market assessment highlights evolving market

In late July, the Australian Energy Market Operator published their analysis of the wholesale market for the second quarter of this year. While the media headlines trumpeted price rises of 31 per cent, the report itself paints a much more restrained picture of the state of the market. As the AEC pointed out at the time, the report illustrates a stabilisation when compared with this time last year, with the industry in a much better position heading into winter than it was in 2022.

BY Australian Energy Council Aug 10 2023

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Reports highlight ongoing challenge of transition

Amidst all the discussion of the energy transition two new reports looking at energy use and options for the energy transition have highlighted the continued major challenge to reduce overall carbon emissions. We take a look at the '2023 statistical review of world energy' and the ‘How to make net zero happen’ reports side by side to provide a picture of where energy consumption has been, and where it may be going in the future and the implications for the energy sector.

BY Australian Energy Council Jul 20 2023

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Rebirthing coal power stations into synchronous condensers

As the power system transitions, the Essential System Services previously supplied by fossil fuelled generators must be replaced. This requires a widespread rollout of Synchronous Condensers (SCs). ARENA has supported and published a report into an unconventional but promising solution, the conversion of fossil fuelled generators into SCs, either whilst the generator is still operational or upon its closure. The report is very timely because the queue for new SCs requires us to commit to either them, or plant conversions, long before these power stations close. We explain what SCs are, what they do, and the options discussed in the report.

BY Ben Skinner Jul 20 2023

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Renewable Energy Supply Chains & the new Critical Minerals Strategy

The recent Critical Minerals Strategy announced by the Albanese Government showed a clear link between the success of the sector locally and the country’s ability to reach its 2030 and 2050 emissions reduction targets, partly through the construction and commissioning of renewable technology. The two industries are uniquely similar. Both are looking to rapidly increase their volume of activity, both are central to Australia’s ability to remain competitive globally, and both must succeed to ensure Australia’s economy continues to prosper in decades to come. We take a look at the Government’s priorities for the sector.

BY Australian Energy Council Jul 13 2023

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Reliability standard ain’t broke

Since market start the NEM has used a single and simple outcome metric for its reliability standard: “Unserved Energy” (USE). Essentially, we target an average of no more than 10.5 minutes off supply per customer per year from rotational load-shedding. In response to a Reliability Panel Review, the Australian Energy Council has published a report by Endgame Economics that theoretically contemplates the appropriateness of the existing standard in the transitioning power system and concludes that the existing simple USE output form approach remains the best approach for the future power system, just as it is in the current power system. Read more.

BY Ben Skinner Jul 13 2023

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AEC Analysis: Retail Market Performance Indicators

Governments, regulators and consumer advocates are taking more interest than ever in monitoring the retail energy market, and everyone has a view on what is working and what is going wrong. In this climate, the release of both the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and the Victorian Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) market performance indicators for the third quarter of 2023 provides a useful datapoint to assess how retailers are tracking, and how customers are managing their energy bills. We take a deep dive into the numbers, and provide some context on their drivers.

BY Ben Barnes Jul 06 2023

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Electrifying moves

This week the ACT Government announced increased support for residents to electrify their homes. More broadly electrification of homes continues to be the subject of much discussion with a new Grattan Institute report recommending ways to encourage households to shift from gas, the announcement of a Senate inquiry into home electrification and an AER review underway. We take a closer look at the new developments and some of the implications.

BY Carl Kitchen Jun 29 2023

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Default Prices: A fine balancing act

There has been much attention on recent regulated electricity tariffs in an environment where cost-of-living pressures continue to bite. The process of setting a regulated price tries to cater for industry and consumer needs but it is not a simple case of giving more to one than the other. The best-case scenario of a regulated price will see competition dampened. But in the worst scenario, retailers will go out of business, as was seen last week with two more retailer failures. We take a look at the latest decisions and what market indicators say about the effectiveness of the policies overall.

BY Jo De Silva Jun 22 2023

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