Suspension of Australian National Electricity Market in 2022 Necessitates Mechanism Evolution Ensuring Power Supply Security

Abstract

The National Electricity Market (NEM) in Australia was suspended during June 15-23, 2022, with a primary attribution to the lack of available generation capacity. This incident is noteworthy because it was the first market suspension in NEM's history and took place in a major energy exporting country. In this letter, we review the outline and impacts of the incident. From the perspectives of market regulation, electricity supply, and electricity demand, we identify three underlying causes of the market suspension and offer four recommendations for the market mechanism evolution to ensure power supply security.