Interconnector Watch: Sunday 16 August 2026
Interconnector loading across the NEM is light this morning, with no flows binding against their limits despite several active constraint sets. Regional price spreads remain narrow — QLD1 at $59.27/MWh, NSW1 at $62.25/MWh, VIC1 at $57.54/MWh, SA1 at $53.44/MWh and TAS1 at $56.06/MWh — none of which are wide enough to require full interconnector utilisation.
QNI (NSW1-QLD1) is flowing 381 MW from QLD1 into NSW1, consistent with QLD1's lower price, but this sits well inside its 1025 MW import limit — utilisation is around 37%. Directlink (N-Q-MNSP1) is carrying just 17 MW from QLD1 to NSW1, a fraction of its 89 MW import capacity, and is currently affected by a control availability issue flagged in AEMO's notice from 14 August, meaning its output can't be varied until further notice — traders should treat this link as fixed rather than responsive to price signals today. VIC1-NSW1 shows the heaviest relative loading, exporting 417 MW from VIC1 to NSW1, around 44% of its 955 MW export limit, reflecting VIC1's price discount to NSW1.
On the southern links, Heywood (V-SA) is exporting 255 MW from VIC1 into SA1, about 43% of its 594 MW export capacity, aligning with SA1 sitting at the cheapest regional price. Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is moving a modest 18 MW in the same direction, well under its 98 MW import limit, and like Murraylink's counterpart Directlink, it's also running under a control unavailability notice since 14 August — its flow is not currently adjustable via normal dispatch controls. Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) shows a small 28 MW flow from TAS1 to VIC1, negligible against its 253 MW export limit, consistent with the narrow TAS1-VIC1 spread.
No constraint equations are currently binding on any interconnector, despite five active network notices covering Lismore 132kV line outage impacts on Directlink, the Bayswater-Sydney West 330kV line outage affecting QNI, VIC-NSW and Directlink limits, the Tarong 275kV breaker outage affecting QNI, and an automated NSW security constraint set touching both QNI and Directlink. These notices are shaping available transfer limits rather than actively curtailing flows today. With all interconnectors trading well below their limits and price spreads under $9/MWh across the mainland, there's no evidence of transmission congestion driving today's regional pricing — spreads are being set by underlying generation stacks rather than interconnector scarcity. WA1, not connected to the NEM grid, sits separately at $85.64/MWh.