OT: $14,000 per MWh

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/07...-south-australia-pays-for-renewables-madness/

Turmoil in South Australia’s heavily wind-reliant electricity market has forced the state government to plead with the owner of a mothballed gas-fired power station to turn it back on.

For those who are knowledgeable on this: What is involved and how long does it take to 'unmothball' a plant like this?

Depends how Mothballed it is. Typically a couple weeks minimum if it was put in a manned shutdown status. However with prices that high, the operator could afford to bring in startup crews and work 24/7, cut corners (even if it reduces the turbine life) and get the thing going quicker! Hell at those prices I'll start my gasoline generators up and sell 10 kW back!

I'm not familiar with Australian electric grid regulation, but this sort of thing is what caused California to start Cal-ISO and the Western US to form WECC, WAPA, etc. If nobody is coordinating the supply, demand, and transmission, prices will go nuts! Also, if Australia has no spinning-reserve (some hydro, pumped storage, certain types of modern gas plants) or demand-response, they are at the mercy of the daily swings of solar/wind.

mhulbert said:

Also, if Australia has no spinning-reserve (some hydro, pumped storage, certain types of modern gas plants) or demand-response, they are at the mercy of the daily swings of solar/wind.

Click to expand...

It sounds like a combination of things - extra cold weather, previous shutdowns of gas and coal fired plants (leading to not enough fossil fuel backup and "The failure in the energy market..." ??

Thanks for the insight.