Australia’s Tasmania has joined the National Electricity Market, despite the fact that delays in the Basslink interconnection project mean that power cannot be physically transported to or from the island state.

Nonetheless, Transend, Hydro and Aurora – the three state-owned power businesses that operate in the state – have transferred market operation to the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMCO) based in Sydney. Hydro Tasmania now sells its output to NEMCO which then sells it on to distribution company Aurora. The measures technically allow for a competitive electricity market in the state ahead of the Basslink, now scheduled for completion in April 2006.