Aemo executive says need for renewables is ‘urgent’ as failing coal-fired power plants and global gas costs cause prices to surge
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Wholesale electricity and gas prices tripled in Australia’s main grid in the June quarter compared with a year ago, as failing coal-fired power plants and soaring global gas costs combined to create “unprecedented” market disruptions, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) said.
Aemo’s quarterly market dynamics report found average spot prices for electricity in the national electricity market, which serves eastern Australia, averaged $264 per megawatt-hour across the quarter. That’s more than double the previous high of $130 in the first quarter of 2019 amid droughts and heatwaves, and a little more than three times the average price in the June quarter of 2021, which was $85.