Category: Media Reference

The Advertiser uses the NEM-watch Widget in explanation

Monday 31st July 2017 was a day (one of an increasing number in recent years) when dispatch prices for energy in South Australia dropped below $0/MWh – and, in this case, down to the Market Floor of -$1,000/MWh for the 13:30 dispatch interval.

We posted two images from NEM-Watch v10 on WattClarity here, to help to illustrate that there was more going on than just “energy” market considerations.

We also noticed that the Advertiser (in this article here) referenced our NEM-Watch Widget in their story about strong winds, and a transmission outage causing export limitations, contributing to negative prices in the region.  Here’s a snapshot of some of the article:

Given we intend all of our products to “make complexity more understandable, so people can make better decisions” it’s always good to see people acknowledge that we deliver on that mission, in this way.

References to WattClarity “astonishing Q2 prices” article referenced in various locations

References to WattClarity “astonishing Q2 prices” article referenced in various locations

On Thursday 6th July 2017, I posted this analysis on WattClarity ® about some “off the chart” movements in average prices, and pricing patterns, across all 5 regions of the NEM – but most pronounced in VIC, TAS and SA.  This analysis was performed using NEMreview v6.

Following from this, we saw the analysis referenced in a range of locations, some of which will be progressively added below:

in the Australian Financial Review

On Friday 7th July we saw the analysis referenced:

in the ABC

Various commentaries were made by others* on ABC Radio referencing the analysis, and I noticed that:

*  note that we don’t, ourselves, speak on TV or Radio, as it takes our time away from directly serving our client base.

across Social Media

various comments were made across social media (LinkedIn and Twitter are the ones I mostly use).

 

 

References to Wattclarity “wind drought” article in newspaper reports

References to Wattclarity “wind drought” article in newspaper reports

On Friday 30th June 2017, I posted this analysis on WattClarity ® about the low levels of aggregate wind production seen across the NEM through June 2017.

Matt Chambers, resources reporter at The Australian picked up this article and added additional comments in his article “Lack of wind blows out South Australia power costs” on Tuesday 4th July (subscriber access required):

 

 

NEM-Review used on the ABC’s 7.30 report to explain how electricity prices have changed over summer

Hugh Saddler from the Australian National University, has used NEM-Review to help explain the state of the electricity market on the ABC’s 7.30 report which was broadcast on the the 13th of February 2017. In the report, several industry experts provide insights on the multi-state energy crisis over the summer that had been developing for several months.

Various media outlets look to Global-Roam for clarity during heat wave

In early February, numerous news websites including the Adelaide Advertiser and the Sydney Morning Herald embedded our NEM-Watch Live Generation Widget (as seen on RenewEconomy) to help explain the generation mix of each state of Australia during the recent heat waves affecting the South Australian and New South Wales electricity network. In addition to the situational awareness that the widget provided, Allan O’Neil made several posts on WattClarity during the week including this initial analysis attempting to explain the root causes of the blackouts experienced in South Australia.

 

About media quote on solar panels being “mostly useless” late in the day

During the national heatwave of February 2016, we fielded many calls from journalists and saw an increasing number of parties use (or embed) a variety of our bite-sized widgets, all focused at making some aspects of complexity more understandable.

One of the conversations I had with a journalist let to being quoted over the weekend saying that solar PV was “mostly useless” late in the day.  Hence, over the weekend I added this note of clarification on WattClarity for those who are interested in more than just soundbites.

Providing insights to The Australian about the situation in South Australia

National Business Correspondent for The Australian, Annabel Hepworth published an article which details the concerns of big energy users in South Australia over high electricity prices after the recent turmoil in the state. Attempting to extend understanding on the situation Paul McArdle provided insights for the article, stating that blackout had “just put a two-week stop” to commercial concerns about the market “but the concerns continue”.

2016-10-13-power-fears-as-emergency-order-ends

NEM-Watch Fuel Type Widget snapshot helps illustrate the state of South Australian energy generation after blackout

In an effort to talk around last week’s power blackout in South Australia to a wider audience, The Australian published a number of infographics on pg. 6 of their daily edition on Thursday, the 18th of October, 2016.

Included was an artistic reproduction of a snapshot taken from our NEM-Watch Widget from 4pm the previous day – as shown here:

2016-10-07-power-being-generated-at-4pm-yesterday

The snapshot was used to compare the energy generation make-up for each state against their respective renewable energy targets

The Australian attributed this image to the SA Government, because they accessed the live chart on the SA Government website.

This location in the Department of State Development is the current location (as at October 2016) of the embedded copy of the NEM-Watch Fuel Type Widgets, one of the growing number of 3rd party “Host” locations that are choosing to embed this widget, which started its life at these two initial locations:

  1.  At RenewEconomy here; and
  2. On the NEM-Watch portal here.

 

Animation on WattClarity helps explain what happened during yesterday’s blackout throughout South Australia

Our CEO, Paul McArdle spent the best part of last night piecing together the animation below in an attempt to understand what went on leading up to and during yesterday’s blackout throughout South Australia. Using ez2view, the animation explains what happened in generation and demand levels in South Australia between 06:00 and 17:00 on Wednesday the 28th of September, 2016.

An initial post and an update on the situation has already been posted on WattClarity, but time permitting, more analysis of what’s happened will be published over the coming days and weeks.

Pondering the future of Australia’s electricity market through detailed analysis

Our CEO, Paul McArdle recently penned an article on WattClarity pondering whether the remarkable price results from Q2 were a short lived excursion or whether they are the begging of a more systematic change in pricing patterns. Paul’s article caught the attention of several journalists including Ben Potter from the Australian Financial Review, who referenced the analysis in his piece ‘COAG out of action as electricity prices soar‘, and sought comments from Paul on the topic:

Average wholesale electricity prices across the National Electricity Market shot up to $65-$80 a megawatt hour in the mainland NEM states in the June quarter, and to $120 in Tasmania, Paul McArdle, director of GlobalRoam, said.