Wholesale electricity prices through Australia’s main grid plunged by nearly 50 per cent in the June quarter amid a surge in renewable energy output to new seasonal highs, a slump in coal output and the lowest amount of gas generation for 23 years.
The shape of the grid and the falling prices were also helped by a significant in battery storage, both at grid scale but also in households, as the number of home batteries continued to surge courtesy of the federal government rebate.
The Australian Energy Market says average wholesale prices in the National Electricity Market – which covers the eastern states and South Australia – fell to their lowest June quarter average since 2020, and were down 47 per cent from the same period last year to an average of $74/MWh (megawatt hour).
AEMO credit a record seasonal share of renewables of 42.1 per cent (the renewable average tends to be lowest in the June quarter than other quarters due to low wind conditions, while coal generation fell 5 per cent, and gas-powered generation plunged 30 per cent to its lowest June quarter average since 2003.
Gas found itself pushed out of the market by a swathe of new big batteries (adding an 3.9 gigawatt hours and doubling capacity to 9 GW)), and a 41 per cent surge in household battery capacity of 3,283 MWh.
