Tranche 1 Pathway initiatives

Tranche 1 initiatives

We are providing enhanced support to eight high-value initiatives in the first tranche of the Power Innovation Pathway (closed 18 October 2024) to help unlock innovation in New Zealand’s electricity sector and improve long-term outcomes for consumers.

The initiatives are:

• Dispatchable demand pilot (Simply Energy) – working with a commercial electricity user to develop their systems and experience using dispatchable demand, and enabling participation challenges to be identified, quantified and analysed.

• Distribution system operation pilot (Counties Energy) – co-ordinating with sector participants to dispatch flexible demand and optimise network capacity.

• Electronic derivatives platform (Aotearoa Energy) – developing a trading platform to help electricity market hedging and electronic derivatives trading.

• End-to-end flexibility platform pilot (Our Energy/Cortexo) – integrating a local market flexibility platform and a local dispatch platform to provide seamless end-to-end demand-side flexibility services.

• Franklin Energy Sharing pilot (Climate Connect Aotearoa/Ara Ake/Counties Energy) – to demonstrate a new approach to peer-to-peer energy trading, enabling excess solar on the network to be donated to local charities to support whānau experiencing hardship.

• Queenstown Electrification Accelerator (Rewiring Aotearoa/Ara Ake) – to showcase how an electrified energy system can save consumers money by using smart demand-side flexibility to defer network and transmission investment whilst providing regional energy resilience.

• Smart panel demand flexibility trial (Basis) – conducting a trial that demonstrates a new model for demand visibility, management and flexibility.

• Voluntary network tariff pilot (The Lines Company) – trialing a voluntary network tariff to facilitate the sharing of solar surplus generated by consumers, with a focus on donating to vulnerable consumers.

Enhanced support programme

The enhanced regulatory support may include, at the Electricity Authority’s discretion:

• providing specific support to assist the applicant in understanding certain clauses or Parts of the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 relevant to the project
• supporting the scoping of a trial to ensure its outcomes inform regulatory activities
• acting as a pilot observer to connect trial findings and perspectives to relevant Electricity Authority work streams
• assisting in the identification of any Code barriers and providing information on the process for any exemption applications that may be required.

Enter the Pathway

The Pathway remains open and we encourage engagement from energy innovators looking to navigate the regulatory landscape and bring transformative solutions to market.