NEM Overview: Saturday 22 August 2026

Spot prices sit in a tight $95-129/MWh band across the NEM this morning, with WA1 the highest at $128.93/MWh and TAS1 the lowest at $94.98/MWh. NSW1 trades at $111.68/MWh, VIC1 at $106.11/MWh, QLD1 at $105.49/MWh and SA1 at $102.25/MWh — a spread of roughly $34/MWh between the priciest and cheapest regions, unremarkable for a mild winter Sunday with soft demand. NSW1 carries the highest demand at 7,283 MW, followed by QLD1 at 5,936 MW and VIC1 at 5,329 MW, while SA1 (1,219 MW) and TAS1 (1,135 MW) run much smaller loads. Overnight temperatures across the eastern states range from 7-11°C, with cloud cover suppressing solar output everywhere overnight, though outlooks show clearing skies and rising solar potential in NSW1, VIC1 and QLD1 through the day.

Renewable penetration is highly uneven by region. TAS1 leads at 97.3% renewable, running almost entirely on hydro (1,260 MW) with wind contributing 192 MW — carbon intensity there is just 0.017 tCO2/MWh. SA1 sits at 63.6% renewable, with wind at 668 MW comfortably the dominant source, backed by gas (430 MW combined OCGT/CCGT) and 84 MW of battery output; SA1's carbon intensity of 0.212 tCO2/MWh reflects this wind-heavy mix. NSW1, VIC1 and QLD1 are running much lower renewable shares — 19%, 9.5% and 10.1% respectively — with black coal (NSW1: 5,867 MW, QLD1: 5,595 MW) and brown coal (VIC1: 3,856 MW) covering the bulk of demand. VIC1's carbon intensity of 1.086 tCO2/MWh is the highest of the five regions. NEM-wide renewable penetration on the gridIQ score sits at 40.6%, with grid stress elevated at 80.5.

The standout item this morning is the active AEMO intervention in SA1: a direction was issued to a market participant yesterday afternoon (effective 1605 hrs 22/08) to address voltage control, and AEMO has flagged a further foreseeable intervention need from 1030 hrs today (23/08) for the same reason. Traders exposed to SA1 should watch for additional directions through the morning peak. Separately, the Basslink interconnector (T-V-MNSP1) is currently binding at 444.68 MW flow against a 459 MW export limit, reflecting the technical limitation notice issued last week — this is constraining Tasmania-Victoria trade and worth monitoring given TAS1's strong hydro output. TAS1 also had two lightning-related contingency reclassifications on transmission lines near Tungatinah and Farrell-Reece over the past two days, both since cancelled, with no lasting network impact expected today.