NEM Overview: Sunday 12 April 2026

Tasmania leads NEM pricing at $85.92/MWh against a backdrop of notably subdued mainland prices — NSW sits at $64.89/MWh, QLD at $66.79/MWh, SA at $69.93/MWh, and VIC the cheapest at $55.56/MWh. The $30/MWh spread between Victoria and Tasmania is the standout regional divergence this morning. That Tasmanian premium reflects ongoing interconnector constraints: Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is carrying zero flow at the 06:30 AEST interval, leaving the island running on its own hydro (540 MW) and wind (155 MW) stack entirely. WA's SWIS sits at $100.89/MWh, though that data is from an earlier interval and sits outside the NEM dispatch framework.

NEM-wide renewable penetration is 25.8% on the gridIQ score, though the regional picture is highly uneven. TAS1 is at 100% renewable (hydro and wind covering all 1,016 MW of demand), VIC1 reaches 25.7% on wind alone (774 MW), while QLD1 is the lowest at 4.4% — solar contributing just 3 MW at this evening interval with coal at 1,934 MW. NSW1 renewable penetration sits at 10.2%, with black coal at 4,758 MW dominating that region's 7,325 MW demand. Grid stress scores at 68.6 — elevated but not critical — and carbon intensity scores at 38.3 reflect the coal-heavy dispatch across the two largest regions this interval.

The most actionable notice for today is an active Forecast LOR1 in SA for the period 0130–0200 AEST on 14 April, where forecast reserve (258 MW) falls 148 MW short of the requirement (406 MW). That's tomorrow's early-morning window but traders with SA exposure should note it now given SA's tight supply picture — local generation is currently 331 MW (87 MW OCGT, 201 MW CCGT, 42 MW wind) against 1,359 MW demand, with the shortfall covered by VIC imports via Heywood. The V-SA interconnector is running at its binding export limit of 658 MW, and V-S-MNSP1 (Murraylink) is also binding at 110 MW — there is no spare import headroom into SA on either link right now.

VIC1-NSW1 is also binding at 551 MW northbound, which is consistent with Victoria's low price and NSW drawing on southern surplus. Traders should watch whether that flow eases through the Monday morning demand ramp in NSW — if NSW demand lifts sharply post-0700 AEST, the interconnector binding could loosen and NSW prices may drift upward. The AEMO market systems notice flags a Telstra Melbourne inbound phone outage between 0100–0600 AEST on 14 April with up to 15 minutes of reduced redundancy; operational impact is low but participants relying on AEMO phone contact during that window should note the rerouting to Perth.