Interconnector Watch: Wednesday 12 August 2026
Two Victoria-South Australia links are binding at full export capacity right now. Heywood (V-SA) is flowing 391 MW from VIC1 into SA1, sitting right at its 391 MW export limit, while Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is also maxed out, exporting 58.09 MW against its 58.09 MW limit. Both interconnectors are pushing Victorian generation into South Australia, consistent with the price differential: VIC1 sits at $47.03/MWh against SA1's $67.80/MWh. With both links saturated, SA1 is unable to draw further cheap Victorian supply, which is capping downside for South Australian prices despite the available spread.
VIC1-NSW1 is flowing 533.27 MW from Victoria into NSW, a substantial transfer but not binding, with headroom against its 533.27 MW export limit already reached — effectively near-full utilisation without a formal binding flag. This flow direction aligns with NSW1's higher price of $87.85/MWh versus VIC1's $47.03/MWh, and is helping narrow what would otherwise be a wider spread. Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is carrying 156.46 MW from Tasmania into Victoria, well under its 386.2 MW export ceiling, reflecting comfortable headroom and a modest TAS1 price of $58.83/MWh relative to VIC1.
On the northern boundary, both QNI (NSW1-QLD1) and Directlink (N-Q-MNSP1) are flowing south to north into Queensland — QNI at -307.67 MW and Directlink at -9 MW — despite QLD1's price of $85.15/MWh sitting close to NSW1's $87.85/MWh. Neither is binding, with QNI holding well inside its -1135.84 MW to 543.86 MW range. This flow pattern is shaped by an active constraint set (N-BWSW_32) invoked since 10 August following an unplanned outage of the Bayswater-Sydney West No.32 330kV line, which continues to restrict transfer capability across N-Q-MNSP1, NSW1-QLD1 and VIC1-NSW1. A second active constraint (Q-HATR) from the Tarong 275kV circuit breaker outage on 8 August and an automated security constraint (CA_SYDS_59839EB2) in NSW since 3 August are also still in force, keeping these interconnectors' operating envelopes tighter than normal ratings would otherwise allow.
Overall, the binding Victoria-South Australia links are the dominant feature this morning, effectively capping SA1's ability to import further and sustaining its premium over VIC1. The NSW-Queensland corridor remains constrained by three concurrent network notices rather than by economic flow limits, keeping QLD1 and NSW1 prices close despite the northward transfer direction. WA1, not connected to the NEM grid, is trading separately at $125.31/MWh.