Solar Analytica · Decision briefPrepared 22 July 2026
South Australia recorded sustained negative pricing
179 five-minute intervals, or 14.9 hours, settled below zero during the operating day.
Market
SA1
Observed
12 April 2023
Triggered value
179 5-minute intervals
Severity
extreme
Executive read
What changed
Measurement. Negative-price intervals reached 179 5-minute intervals against a 12 5-minute intervals reference.
Decision implication. Sustained negative prices expose the value of flexible load, storage and controllable generation while weakening unshifted merchant solar capture.
Evidence boundary. The event is a deterministic threshold or record comparison. It identifies a measurement that warrants investigation; it does not assign causality or quantify commercial exposure.
Operating context