Weather and Climate Impacts on Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM)

Abstract

This chapter presents information on weather and climate effects in the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). The effects are considered in two classifications: Operational effects and impacts, representing the short- to medium-term effects and responses and how these are managed by power system operators. Planning impacts, representing the longer term considerations that must be given to power system planning and development in order to accommodate increasing renewable energy generation and climatic changes. The main focus is on wind and solar power, both of which are already present in the NEM and both of which are forecast to increase significantly over the coming decade. Solar and wind variability and diversity are key characteristics for both operational and planning purposes and existing and proposed approaches are discussed.