Interconnector Watch: Monday 17 August 2026

VIC-NSW is binding right now, exporting 803.6 MW from Victoria into NSW — flat against its 803.59 MW export limit, so the interconnector is fully utilised in the Vic-to-NSW direction. This is the dominant story on the grid this morning: Victoria's pool price sits at $37.68/MWh against NSW at $72.65/MWh, a $34.97/MWh spread, and the interconnector is transferring the maximum allowable volume to arbitrage that gap. With VIC-NSW pinned at its ceiling, NSW remains reliant on other sources to fill remaining demand, keeping its price elevated relative to Victoria.

QNI (NSW1-QLD1) is flowing 555 MW from QLD into NSW, well inside its -1047.47/773.05 MW envelope, so it's not binding despite the active constraint sets. Two AEMO notices remain in force on this corridor: the Woolooga-Teebar Creek 275 kV line outage (invoked 17 August, constraint sets Q-WOTB and Q-X_PWSP_CPWO_O) and the Bayswater-Sydney West 330 kV line outage from 10 August (N-BWSW_32), both of which sit on QNI and Directlink equations. These are capping available transfer capability without currently forcing a binding limit — QLD's $67.12/MWh price against NSW's $72.65/MWh reflects a modest $5.53/MWh spread, consistent with unconstrained flow absorbing most of the differential. Directlink (N-Q-MNSP1) is flowing 25 MW QLD-to-NSW, a small counter-flow within its band, though it remains under a standing control-availability notice since 14 August restricting its dispatch flexibility.

In the south, Heywood (V-SA) carries just 9.8 MW from Victoria to SA and Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) only 9 MW, both far below their respective ~238 MW and 98 MW export limits. This light utilisation aligns with SA and Victoria trading near parity — $37.04/MWh and $37.68/MWh respectively — leaving little price incentive for larger transfers. Murraylink also carries a standing control-unavailability notice since 14 August, limiting AEMO's ability to actively manage its output, though this isn't affecting current flow levels. Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is exporting 100.5 MW from Tasmania into Victoria, comfortably under its 125 MW ceiling, consistent with Tasmania's low $36.16/MWh price seeking the modest arbitrage available into Victoria.

Overall, the binding VIC-NSW link is the key price-separation driver today, sustaining a near-$35/MWh NSW premium over Victoria, while QNI's unbinding but constraint-affected status keeps the NSW-QLD spread comparatively narrow. WA1, operating outside the NEM, shows $132.41/MWh, unrelated to interconnector dynamics here.