News
How marginal electricity spot pricing reflects cost
In the New Zealand wholesale electricity market, the price paid to dispatched generators is the nodal ‘spot price’, which is priced to reflect the ‘margina…
New generation projects flowing through the investment pipeline
New electricity generation projects are expected to significantly boost New Zealand’s energy system over the next two years. As at October 2025, there were 28…
Changes in demand and price ‘peakiness’ since 2005
This article analyses long-term trends in electricity demand ‘peakiness’ in New Zealand over the last 20 years. The first half of this article analyse long-ter…
Strong inflows push hydro storage above nominal full
Rainy spring weather and snowmelt have caused national hydro storage in New Zealand to increase beyond ‘nominal full’ capacity - and to its highest level since…
New standardised super-peak hedge product has improved risk management
In 2024 the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko’s risk management review found there was limited volume of a financial tool aimed specifically at price risk dur…
Wholesale prices plummet as the proportion of renewables increases
Wholesale electricity prices dropped dramatically in just two months - from over $280/MWh in late August 2025 to an average of $30/MWh in October 2025, the low…
The impact of La Niña summers on hydro inflows
More than half of New Zealand’s total electricity generation comes from hydro generation, making it an important component of the electricity system. Large hyd…
Geography, locational pricing and price separation
The wholesale electricity market is where retailers purchase electricity from generators at half-hourly spot prices. In New Zealand, pricing in this market at …
Electricity market performance from January to June
During the first half of 2025, the electricity market responded to changing levels of hydro, thermal and wind generation. Hydro inflows were unusually low unti…
Generation investment pipeline: updates and insights
At launch, our generation investment pipeline dashboard included details about where projects were located, their size, status and expected commissioning as a …
Electricity hedge prices compared to new estimate of the LCOE
In an 'Eye on electricity' article in June, we compared the prices of long and short hedges to estimates of the levelised cost of electricity and short run mar…
Demand-side flexibility in a highly renewable power system
As New Zealand electrifies, demand for electricity will increase. This increased demand will generally need to be met with new supply. But an important element…
Spring outlook: Understanding the change in wholesale price risk
While rain over the weekend was welcomed, national hydro storage is still low. As a result, this week, the Electricity Authority changed the risk assessment of…
Wind will play a larger role in electricity generation
In Aotearoa New Zealand, wind generation is growing. Wind farms currently make up around 11% of our total electricity generation capacity, the majority of whic…
The role of thermal generation
New Zealand’s electricity is generated from hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and thermal fuel sources. Thermal fuels include coal, natural gas and diesel and are…