Interconnector Watch: Saturday 23 May 2026

NEM-wide interconnectors are running well within limits at 06:30 AEST, with no binding constraints across the five active links. The most significant flow is on VIC1-NSW1 (Vic–NSW Interconnector), carrying 575 MW northward from Victoria into NSW — 58% of its 994.5 MW export limit. That flow is consistent with Victoria's lower regional price of $67.47/MWh relative to NSW at $76.94/MWh, a $9.47/MWh spread that is supporting continued northward transfer. QNI (NSW1-QLD1) is exporting 123.5 MW from NSW into Queensland, which at $78.99/MWh is the highest-priced mainland region, representing 35% of its 353.5 MW export limit. The combined effect is Victoria effectively underpinning supply across the NSW–Queensland corridor via cascading northward flows.

Heywood (V-SA) is carrying 53.2 MW westward into SA — the sign convention here indicates flow from VIC to SA — at just 12% of its 492 MW import capacity. SA's price of $64.79/MWh sits below Victoria's $67.47/MWh, which is a narrow inversion that would ordinarily suppress flows into SA; the modest westward transfer likely reflects contractual scheduling or intra-dispatch dynamics rather than a strong economic signal. Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is carrying only 9 MW and remains subject to two active AEMO market notices stemming from an unplanned outage of the Redcliffs converter station that triggered constraint sets I-ML_ZERO and I-MURRAYLINK from 17 May. The link is registering a flow against its import limit of -89 MW, indicating severely curtailed capacity — traders should treat Murraylink as effectively offline for transfer planning purposes until AEMO clears the active notices.

Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is at zero flow, with Tasmania sitting at $97.04/MWh — the highest regional price on the NEM today and 44% above Victoria. The zero flow despite a substantial $29.57/MWh price differential with Victoria is the standout anomaly of this interval. Tasmania's demand is 1,045 MW against a rated Basslink capacity of ±125 MW, and the link is technically capable of importing, but no transfer is occurring. This may reflect hydro dispatch decisions, Basslink scheduling, or intra-day system needs in Tasmania. The South Morang F2 500/330kV transformer outage notice (constraint set V-SMTX_F_R, affecting T-V-MNSP1 among others) was scheduled to clear by 17:00 on 22 May, so it should no longer be binding — traders should verify current NOS status if Tasmanian exposure is relevant to their position.

VIC's maximum generation contingency size uplift from 600 MW to 750 MW (effective 13 May) remains an active notice and is relevant to south-west Victoria dispatch headroom, particularly for any large generation contingency modelling on the Heywood corridor. With no interconnectors binding and moderate utilisation across the board, regional price spreads today are being set primarily by local supply conditions rather than transmission congestion — the $9–14/MWh NSW–Victoria and NSW–Queensland differentials are modest and consistent with free flow conditions.