Interconnector Watch: Wednesday 16 September 2026
Interconnector flows across the NEM are unconstrained by binding transmission limits this morning, though Basslink continues to operate under a control-system restriction that traders should watch through the day. All six interconnectors are sitting well within their export/import limits, with none currently marked as binding.
The largest flow is VIC1-NSW1, exporting 400 MW from Victoria into NSW (limit 710 MW, ~56% utilised), consistent with NSW carrying the highest regional price at $96.99/MWh against Victoria's $89.58/MWh. QNI (NSW1-QLD1) is moving 756 MW from Queensland into NSW (against a 1,063 MW import limit, ~71% utilised), which is compressing what would otherwise be a wider NSW-QLD spread — QLD sits at $85.71/MWh, the cheapest mainland region, despite the strong northward draw. Directlink adds a further 33 MW QLD-to-NSW, a minor contribution at low utilisation.
On the Victoria-SA corridor, Heywood (V-SA) is flowing 85 MW from SA into Victoria against a 465 MW import limit — light utilisation — while Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is barely active at 2.5 MW. This modest net transfer aligns with SA's price at $86.74/MWh sitting between VIC and NSW, with no meaningful spread pressure from the interconnector today. Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is exporting 114 MW from Tasmania into Victoria, exactly at its reduced import limit of 114 MW (down from its normal ~478 MW), which reflects the active constraint set I-CTRL_ISSUE_BL following the 11 September notice of a Basslink control fault — the link is unable to follow dispatch targets and remains under manual limit management until further notice. This constraint is compressing Basslink's normal arbitrage capacity and is a likely contributor to TAS1's elevated price of $152.83/MWh, the highest in the NEM, since the link cannot flex to draw down the Tasmanian price gap with Victoria.
No negative settlement residue constraints are currently active (both the VIC-SA and NSW-VIC NEGRES events from 11-12 September have since ceased), and the TAS1 lightning-related contingency reclassifications on the Gordon-Chapel St and Farrell-Reece lines have also been cancelled. The one live operational flag remains the Basslink control limitation — worth monitoring for any AEMO update on restoration, as normalisation of that link's capacity would likely narrow the current TAS1 price premium.