The CAISO battery fleet just recently surpassed its all-time record for dispatch. Last Wednesday, the fleet discharged more than 8.3 GW, up half a gigawatt from its previous record of 7.8 GW. Despite that, the conditions for batteries this August haven’t been that favorable. Unlike this spring when deeply negative midday prices abounded, midday prices so far this month have been relatively high. Buy prices for NP15 and SP15 batteries so far this month have been over $30/MWh. In a recent article, titled ‘The Timing of It All’, we detailed the poor arbitrage opportunities so far this month and explored how a gas-on-gas environment makes it hard for battery operators. The trend has continued into this week and in this report, we’ll explore how batteries have fared this month in terms of discharge and TB4 arbitrage opportunities.

Figure 1 | Price Responsiveness – Battery Operations and RTM Price (Aug 12 – Aug 19)