Interconnector Watch: Tuesday 15 September 2026
**NEM interconnector snapshot, 06:30 AEST, 16 September 2026**
No interconnectors are currently binding, and flows across the network are modest relative to capacity, consistent with the tight regional price spread this morning (QLD1 $99.68, VIC1 $99.47, NSW1 $103.91, SA1 $94.74, TAS1 $94.07). Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is the most heavily utilised link in percentage terms, flowing 179 MW from TAS1 to VIC1 against a 314 MW export limit — around 57% of capacity — but well clear of binding. VIC1-NSW1 is carrying 202 MW north into NSW1 (32% of its 621 MW export limit), consistent with NSW1's price premium of roughly $4-9/MWh over VIC1 and QLD1. QNI (NSW1-QLD1) shows a modest 321 MW reverse flow from QLD1 into NSW1, only 29% of the 1,107 MW import limit, doing little to close the NSW1-QLD1 gap given how thin that gap already is.
Heywood (V-SA) is exporting 167 MW from VIC1 into SA1, about 30% of its 563 MW export capacity, while Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is flat at 0 MW, sitting idle within its ±71-89 MW band. Directlink (N-Q-MNSP1) is similarly light, at just 9 MW flowing NSW1-to-QLD1 against an 88 MW ceiling. With SA1 and TAS1 both trading below $95/MWh and none of the links stressed, there's no evidence of transmission scarcity driving today's remarkably flat interregional spread — this looks like a supply-demand balance story more than a network constraint story.
On constraints: Basslink remains under an active control-issue notice (I-CTRL_ISSUE_BL, invoked since 11 September) after AEMO flagged it was unable to follow target due to a suspected control fault — worth watching given the link's 57% utilisation this morning. TAS1 also saw two credible-contingency reclassifications overnight (Gordon-Chapel St and Farrell-Reece 220kV lines) tied to lightning activity, both since cancelled as conditions cleared, with no lasting constraint sets left in force. Negative settlement residue constraints on VIC1-SA1 and NSW1-VIC1 that triggered intermittently over 10-12 September have also ceased operating, with no recurrence flagged so far today. No new market notices this morning point to any binding transmission limitation — flows and prices both suggest a well-interconnected, loosely constrained grid at this hour.