Interconnector Watch

NEM interconnectors are carrying significant north-south and east-west flows at 06:30 AEST. The most consequential constraint is on QNI (NSW1-QLD1), which is binding at its import limit of -553.37 MW — meaning Queensland is importing from New South Wales at the interconnector's maximum import capacity. This binding constraint is directly separating the two regions' prices: NSW sits at $87.51/MWh against Queensland's $64.83/MWh, a spread of $22.68/MWh. With QNI saturated on the import side, additional low-cost Queensland energy cannot flow south to compress NSW prices, and the constraint is acting as a hard ceiling on arbitrage.

VIC-NSW is the most active interconnector by volume, carrying 738.88 MW northward from Victoria into NSW, utilising 74% of its 992.25 MW export limit with headroom remaining and no binding constraint. This flow is consistent with Victoria's lower price of $74.69/MWh relative to NSW's $87.51/MWh — the $12.82/MWh spread is driving commercial incentive to push energy north, though the flow has not fully compressed the price gap, suggesting NSW demand of 7,568 MW is absorbing the import at elevated marginal cost. On the South Australian links, Heywood (V-SA) is carrying 102.33 MW from Victoria into SA, well within its 599.2 MW export limit at around 17% utilisation. SA and Victoria are priced almost identically at $74.76/MWh and $74.69/MWh respectively, confirming the two regions are effectively in price equilibrium via unconstrained interconnection. Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is contributing a modest 9 MW westward into SA, well below its 87 MW export limit and not binding.

Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is at zero flow between Tasmania and Victoria, despite both regions having headroom within the ±125 MW limits. Tasmania is priced at $75.22/MWh — marginally above Victoria's $74.69/MWh — so the near-parity leaves little economic incentive to move energy in either direction at present. The Marinus interconnector (N-Q-MNSP1) is flowing -105 MW, indicating Queensland is importing 105 MW from a northern connection, within its -152 MW import limit at roughly 69% utilisation and not binding. No constraint market notices are active across the NEM at this interval. The dominant market story right now is the binding QNI import limit locking in a sub-$25/MWh price wedge between Queensland and NSW, with all other inter-regional links operating below capacity and their associated price spreads either negligible or being actively arbitraged down.