More households using rooftop solar to slash power bills are taking pressure off the national electricity grid but wholesale prices remain elevated.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
A year on from a market suspension amid a global energy crisis, unprecedented volatility and soaring power bills, energy market data issued on Thursday shows fewer price spikes for wholesale electricity.
East coast wholesale gas prices fell from record levels a year ago to average $14.20 per gigajoule for April to June, still the second-highest June quarter price on record after last year's $28.39/GJ shocker.
The Australian Energy Market Operator said newly connected or commissioned utility-scale renewable energy during the quarter also helped reduce wholesale prices and greenhouse gas emissions.
Queensland recorded a 69 per cent jump in output from solar farms and Victoria posted a 27 per cent increase in wind production.
But new transmission is needed to connect future wind and solar farms to replace coal-fired power plants, the market operator warned.
The April to June report found wholesale electricity prices topped $300 per megawatt hour during three per cent of so-called trading intervals, compared to 26 per cent in the June quarter last year.
Wholesale prices in the national electricity market averaged $108/MWh, plunging from the record high quarterly price of $264/MWh a year earlier.
In WA, where the state government has been forced to import coal to keep the lights on, a record price of $113/MWh was set along with record electricity demand.
Signalling ongoing cost of living pressure, that average national market price was still 31 per cent higher than the first three months of 2023 - and the second-highest June quarter on record.
In June 2022, the market operator suspended the spot market as generators removed capacity in response to price caps and fuel shortages.
With a high number of units already out of service and the early onset of winter pushing up demand for electricity and gas, it was impossible to continue normal operations, it said at the time.
The latest data captures the role renewable energy is playing in pushing prices down and displacing the need for higher-cost coal and gas-fired generation.
Rooftop solar generation surged 30 per cent compared to a year earlier, which reduced demand for electricity from the grid.
A fundamental shift in domestic gas supply is also underway, driven by declining production from fields connected to Longford Gas Plant in Victoria.
But Longford's decline has mostly been replaced by a net increase in supply out of Queensland.
Australian Associated Press
