Interconnector Watch

Six interconnectors are active across the NEM at 06:35 AEST, with three running at their export limits and shaping significant price differentials between regions. VIC-NSW (VIC1-NSW1) is binding at its full export capacity of 895.74 MW, pushing power north from Victoria into New South Wales. This constraint is directly reflected in the price spread: Victoria clears at $0/MWh while NSW sits at $76.99/MWh — a $76.99/MWh differential that the interconnector cannot arbitrage further given it is already at the ceiling. Heywood (V-SA) is simultaneously binding at 480.71 MW export from Victoria into South Australia, yet SA still prices at $182.67/MWh, indicating local supply tightness in SA that persists even with the interconnector fully loaded. Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) adds a further 166.35 MW from Victoria to SA and is also binding at its export limit, meaning both Victorian-to-SA pathways are exhausted and unable to close the $182.67/MWh SA premium any further.

On the QNI (NSW1-QLD1), flow is 425 MW northward from NSW into Queensland — a notable reversal of the more typical southbound direction — but the interconnector is not binding, with the import limit sitting at -760 MW and current utilisation at roughly 56% of that headroom. Queensland clears at $71.75/MWh against NSW at $76.99/MWh, a modest $5.24/MWh spread consistent with a partially utilised link. Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is carrying 69.5 MW from Tasmania into Victoria and is unbound, with Tasmania pricing at $66.24/MWh against Victoria's $0/MWh — an unusual situation where the Tasmanian price is above the Victorian destination price, suggesting the Basslink flow direction may reflect longer-term contract or network obligations rather than pure spot arbitrage at this interval. No constraint market notices are active across the NEM at this time.

Loss data is not available for any interconnector in this interval, so net delivered volumes cannot be precisely determined. The dominant market dynamic this morning is Victoria acting as a low-cost export hub — clearing at $0/MWh and simultaneously exporting at full capacity on both Heywood and Murraylink into SA, and at full capacity on VIC-NSW into NSW. Despite this, SA's price remains the highest in the NEM at $182.67/MWh, confirming that interconnector capacity into SA is the binding constraint on price convergence, not Victorian supply availability. Traders with SA exposure should note that no further import relief is available via either Victorian interconnector under current dispatch conditions.