Interconnector Watch: Thursday 10 September 2026
QNI (NSW1-QLD1) is the binding constraint right now, flowing 1,078 MW from QLD into NSW against its import limit of exactly 1,078 MW — fully utilised at the ceiling. This is consistent with the price differential: NSW sits at $109.10/MWh versus QLD at $87.73/MWh, so cheaper Queensland generation is flowing south to meet NSW demand (8,274 MW, the highest in the NEM) until the interconnector's capacity is exhausted. Directlink (N-Q-MNSP1), the smaller NSW-QLD link, is also flowing north-to-south-equivalent at -57 MW (QLD to NSW direction) but sits well within its -94.76 MW import limit, non-binding.
On the southern flank, VIC1-NSW1 is exporting 382 MW from VIC into NSW, comfortably within its 989.9 MW export limit — Victoria's $100.50/MWh price sits between NSW and QLD, and this flow is helping narrow the NSW premium rather than being constrained itself. Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is sending 278 MW from TAS into VIC, well under its 473 MW export limit, consistent with TAS's $92.99/MWh price sitting below VIC. In South Australia, both Heywood (V-SA) and Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) are flowing from SA into VIC — 391 MW and 36 MW respectively — despite SA's $89.85/MWh price being lower than VIC's $100.50/MWh, both well within their export limits and non-binding.
QNI's saturation is the dominant driver of today's regional price spread: with the NSW-QLD link capped, NSW is unable to draw in enough low-cost QLD generation to fully converge prices, keeping NSW the most expensive mainland region at a $21/MWh premium to QLD and a $9/MWh premium to VIC. AEMO market notices show no active negative settlement residue constraints currently binding — the NRM_NSW1_VIC1 and NRM_VIC1_SA1 negative residue constraint sets that were triggered intermittently through yesterday (13:05, 14:00, 16:05 and 17:20 AEST) have all since ceased, so today's flows are unconstrained by residue management on those paths. No active transmission contingency reclassifications remain in force for TAS1 or VIC1 either, with the Yallourn-Rowville and Tasmanian lightning-related reclassifications from 4-5 September all cancelled. WA1, operating outside the NEM, prices at $87.75/MWh with no interconnector linkage to report.