Interconnector Watch: Friday 14 August 2026

Three of the NEM's six interconnectors are sitting at their operating limits right now, with SA import/export capacity effectively fixed by control system outages on both Murraylink and Directlink. SA1 is the highest-priced region at $130.44/MWh, importing from Victoria via Heywood, which is exporting at its full 154.52 MW limit into SA. Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is similarly capped, flowing 59 MW into SA at its exact export limit. Both links are constrained by control unavailability rather than thermal capacity — AEMO's 06:10-06:15 hrs notices confirm Murraylink and Directlink controls are locked, holding flows static regardless of the widening VIC-SA price spread (currently $30.73/MWh).

Directlink (N-Q-MNSP1) is also binding, flowing 29.4 MW from QLD into NSW — its full import limit — again due to the control unavailability notice rather than congestion. This sits alongside the broader NSW1-QLD1 (QNI) flow, which is well within its envelope at -885.77 MW (NSW importing from QLD), against a 1078 MW import limit. QNI's headroom is currently constrained by the standing N-BWSW_32 and Q-HATR outage-related constraint sets from the Bayswater-Sydney West line and Tarong circuit breaker outages, plus the CA_SYDS security constraint active since early August, but none of these are binding at this dispatch interval.

Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is exporting 429.36 MW from Tasmania into Victoria, well under its 459 MW export limit, helping keep TAS1 at $89.53/MWh — the second-lowest price in the NEM — while supporting VIC1 demand of 5470 MW. VIC1-NSW1 flow sits at -257.12 MW (Victoria importing from NSW), comfortably within its -622.85 MW to 534.81 MW range and not binding, consistent with the modest $2.08/MWh spread between NSW1 ($97.63/MWh) and VIC1 ($99.71/MWh).

The overall pattern today shows SA's price premium is being held in place by fixed, non-thermal interconnector limits rather than congestion in the traditional sense — both Heywood and Murraylink are maxed out on control-restricted capacity, meaning SA cannot draw additional support from Victoria even though VIC1 prices are $30+/MWh cheaper. QLD1 remains the lowest-priced region at $84.02/MWh, with QNI and Directlink both flowing north-to-south to support NSW and, via Directlink, indirectly influencing the tighter NSW-QLD price differential ($13.61/MWh). Traders should watch for AEMO updates on Murraylink and Directlink control restoration, as normalisation of those limits could quickly narrow the SA1-VIC1 spread.