Interconnector Watch: Sunday 30 August 2026
No interconnectors are currently binding at 06:30 AEST, meaning today's regional price spreads are being driven more by underlying supply-demand fundamentals than by transfer limits. NSW1 sits at the top of the price stack at $100.84/MWh, followed by VIC1 ($95.69/MWh), WA1 ($94.57/MWh), TAS1 ($86.65/MWh), QLD1 ($87.73/MWh) and SA1 the lowest at $69.41/MWh. Demand is heaviest in NSW1 (8,459 MW) and QLD1 (6,499 MW), with SA1 the lightest at 1,414 MW.
QNI (NSW1-QLD1) is flowing 862.6 MW from QLD1 into NSW1, around 77% of its 1,126 MW import limit into NSW1 but comfortably clear of binding. This flow direction is consistent with QLD1's lower price ($87.73/MWh) relieving some pressure in the higher-priced NSW1 region. Directlink (N-Q-MNSP1), the smaller NSW-QLD link, is also flowing 33 MW toward NSW1, in the same direction as QNI and well within its 113.2 MW import limit — both links are aligned rather than working against each other today.
VIC-NSW is exporting 211.4 MW from VIC1 into NSW1, only 21% of its 1,021 MW export capacity, again consistent with VIC1's lower price attracting flow toward NSW1. Basslink (T-V-MNSP1) is running 387.8 MW from TAS1 to VIC1, well above its 174.4 MW import limit reference point but within its 459 MW export ceiling — Tasmania is exporting despite TAS1 pricing ($86.65/MWh) sitting below VIC1 ($95.69/MWh), which is unusual and points to plant dispatch or must-run generation in TAS1 rather than pure price arbitrage. Heywood (V-SA) is flowing 100.1 MW from SA1 into VIC1, sitting right at its import limit of -100.12 MW, the tightest utilisation on the board today though not formally binding, while Murraylink (V-S-MNSP1) is flat at zero, reflecting either an outage or scheduled null flow. The SA1-VIC1 combination is keeping SA1 prices well below the rest of the mainland, exporting output rather than importing to support local demand.
On constraints, there are no active binding sets across the six links, and the notices on file are largely administrative or historical: the North Queensland system strength equation update (effective 27 August) is now live in production but not currently constraining QNI or Directlink flows, and the TAS1 lightning-related contingency reclassifications from 21-22 August have both been cancelled and reverted to non-credible status, so Basslink is not operating under any special contingency constraint this morning. The Lismore-Koolkhan 132kV outage from 21 August remains a live constraint set on Directlink's NSW side, but with Directlink flowing only 33 MW against a 113 MW limit, it is not presently limiting.