Optimising for AEMO
This guide outlines how to think about optimisation when your site or portfolio interacts with AEMO-operated arrangements, chiefly the National Electricity Market (NEM). It is a starting point for engineering and commercial alignment—not a substitute for AEMO rules, AER guidelines, or your own legal and market advice.
- AEMO administers the NEM (and related services such as FCAS where applicable).
- Optimisation here means tuning control, forecasting, bidding, and asset behaviour so that technical performance supports your market and compliance outcomes.
Clarify your participation model
Section titled “Clarify your participation model”Before changing setpoints or algorithms, document how the asset is classified and what obligations apply:
- Registered vs unregistered plant, and any NER / WEM vs NEM distinctions if you operate across regions.
- Dispatch and settlement timelines you are exposed to.
- Whether you provide FCAS or other ancillary services, and under which standard or bespoke arrangements.
Data and time alignment
Section titled “Data and time alignment”NEM-facing optimisation depends on clocks, forecasts, and telemetry that line up with market intervals:
- Align SCADA, metering, and control loops with dispatch intervals and any sub-interval logic your retailer or aggregator uses.
- Version and retain forecast inputs (price, renewable output, load) used for bids or schedules so you can explain decisions after the fact.
Control and technical targets
Section titled “Control and technical targets”Translate market objectives into measurable control targets:
- Energy—arbitrage, peak shaving, or contract compliance vs spot exposure.
- FCAS—if enabled, ensure capability (ramp, duration, availability) matches what you nominate.
- Constraints—voltage, thermal limits, and warranty conditions must remain hard constraints in any optimiser.
Testing and staging
Section titled “Testing and staging”- Offline / replay—test bidding and dispatch responses against historical intervals before go-live.
- Shadow mode—run optimised recommendations in parallel with incumbent logic and compare outcomes.
- Rollback—define safe fallbacks when communications or market systems are unavailable.
Compliance and evidence
Section titled “Compliance and evidence”Keep artefacts that support compliance and dispute resolution:
- Configuration snapshots, bid files, and operator acknowledgements where your process requires them.
- Logs that tie control actions to market events (e.g. dispatch targets, enablement signals).