Interconnector Watch: Friday 12 June 2026

VIC1-NSW1 (Murraylink — correction: the VIC-NSW interconnector) is the single binding constraint on the NEM right now, carrying 922 MW northward from Victoria into New South Wales and sitting exactly at its export limit of 922 MW. That binding condition is the direct mechanism behind the sharp price split between the two regions: Victoria clears at -$2.99/MWh while NSW sits at $53.73/MWh. The interconnector is physically preventing further arbitrage from closing that ~$57/MWh spread.

Heywood (V-SA) is moving 249 MW westward from Victoria into South Australia against an export limit of 427 MW, leaving meaningful headroom and remaining unbound. SA prices at -$3.13/MWh track closely with Victoria's negative print, consistent with that relatively open transfer path. Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is at zero flow with both limits at zero, indicating it is either offline or under a scheduled outage — three active constraint notices referencing V-KGKO (Kerang–Koorangie 220 kV line outage since 9 June) list V-S-MNSP1, T-V-MNSP1, V-SA, and VIC1-NSW1 on the left-hand side, meaning that unplanned transmission outage continues to shape transfer capability across multiple interconnectors today.

Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is carrying 65 MW southward — that is, from Victoria into Tasmania — and is sitting precisely at its export limit of -64.54 MW, making it effectively flow-constrained in that direction. This aligns with Tasmania's premium price of $71.69/MWh versus Victoria's negative price; despite the price incentive to push more generation north out of Tasmania, the APD A2 500/220 kV transformer outage (active since 10 June, constraint set F-I_ML_APD_LOAD) is limiting Basslink's northward capacity. QNI (NSW1-QLD1) is carrying 59 MW northward from NSW into Queensland against an import limit of -120 MW, leaving roughly half its southward capacity unused and remaining unbound. Queensland at $53.75/MWh is near-parity with NSW at $53.73/MWh, which is consistent with that lightly loaded, unconstrained link. Directline (N-Q-MNSP1) sits at zero flow; an active AEMO constraint notice (CA_BRIS_593C7214, invoked 11 June) continues to limit transfers on that interconnector for Queensland system security reasons.

The dominant price architecture across the NEM today is therefore a two-bloc structure: Victoria and SA are clearing negative or near-zero, isolated from higher-priced NSW and Queensland by a saturated VIC-NSW interconnector, while Tasmania is priced above both blocs due to Basslink's constrained northward export capability. No losses data is reported across any interconnector in this interval.