Over on WattClarity, Paul first noted a growing trend of Queensland region prices dropping below $0/MWh at the end of August, as that trend continued into September more discussion on the topic was published on the site with Allan O’Neil analysing who was responsible for the market phenomenon and how it was influencing bidding behavior.
Several industry journalists attempted to explain the cause and effect of the negative prices, with Paul providing quotes to the national media discussion:
- Angela McDonald-Smith at the Australian Financial Review quoted Paul in her opinion piece “Solar-induced negative power prices offset by spikes.”
In a separate analysis, Global-ROAM’s Paul McArdle found increases in capacity bid into the NEM at negative electricity prices and in capacity bid in at over $300/MWh, reducing the incidence of more normal pricing.
- Stephen Letts of the ABC, used a screenshot of NEM-Watch to demonstrate the QLD spot price in his article “As power prices crash below zero, don’t expect it to show up on your power bill”
- Angela McDonald-Smith and Mark Ludlow of the AFR later reported “Electricity prices hit minus $1000 in Qld”
Electricity market analyst Global-ROAM pointed to a trading price for the half-hour to 10am of -$413.65/MWh, followed by one -$731.11/MWh. In theory power generators operating then were paying hundreds of dollars for every megawatt-hour they produced, depending on their contracts and hedging.