inversely it gave on demand generators such as gas and diesel the ability to manipulate the market to the point that NEM was forced to intervene
that situation was a "perfect storm" scenario - Loy Yang has a generator go down... Lidell winding up (were you referring to their culture around maintenance???), QLD generators undergoing annual maintenance (most of this issue was with coal generators - they still make up ~60% of the market)... record prices for coal, gas and oil... in combination with a unusual storm pattern which reduced solar generation over much of the east coast... brutal combination.
I agree it is a hard game to play when there are intermittent generators such as solar and wind in the market which may produce 100% capacity at one moment and 15% the next - part of the problem there is lack of geographical installations (particularly wind), QLD is catching up FFI alone will make a massive change to QLDs generation mix...
but the real problem is when generators choose to withdraw capacity at the last moment... if they cant operate in the market and make a profit - its a clear indicator that we need to use other technologies as our fall backs that are cheaper and able to cover when the intermittent supply is not there.
AGL Price at posting:
$6.64 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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