News
What are contingent contracts and how do they help our power system?
To help ensure the lights stay on, some power generators have ‘contingent contracts’ as a back-up. We explain what these contacts are and how they help to ensu…
Retail power prices and power supply security
From earlier this month, most New Zealanders electricity bills increased to recover costs for power transmission and distribution. This article explains the di…
Hydro storage limits and why rain matters for electricity
New Zealand has a highly renewable electricity system where hydro generation accounts for more than half of our total electricity generation. This article expl…
Gentailer energy margins in 2024
Following the significant spike in wholesale electricity prices during July and August 2024, the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko requested that all gentaile…
New highs being hit in solar generation
New data from the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko shows energy from solar farms have been hitting new records this summer, with a historic peak of 128MW rea…
Was electricity demand higher in 2024?
This article explores why several months in the second half of 2024 had lower than historic electricity demand. This change in trend was largely due to lower i…
New Zealand’s electricity system in August and November 2024
New Zealand’s electricity system is designed to rapidly respond to changing electricity demand and supply conditions. This adaptability ensures the system prod…
The Tiwai Point smelter demand response in winter 2024
During winter 2024, New Zealand experienced an electricity fuel shortage. Meridian Energy called on its demand response option with the New Zealand Aluminium S…
Market options were available to large energy users in winter 2024
Business closures prompted the Electricity Authority to investigate the options available – we found that hedges available tended to be lower than the overlapp…
Changes to wind and solar forecasting set to improve electricity system reliability
This article explains how the Electricity Authority has developed a new hybrid forecasting arrangement for intermittent generators and how this change will ben…
What is behind low wholesale electricity prices
Our previous ‘Eye on electricity’ article explained how high wholesale electricity prices in early August 2024 reflected fuel scarcity in the electricity syste…
What was behind high wholesale electricity prices
Between July and early August 2024, New Zealand’s wholesale electricity prices increased from roughly $300/MWh to over $800/MWh. This article explains how the …
New Zealand progressing at pace towards a highly renewable electric future
New Zealand is transitioning to a highly renewable electricity system. This change will require investment in new electricity generation to match demand growth…
Why was electricity demand high during 2024?
Demand for electricity comes from all over Aotearoa and includes everything from heating homes to smelting aluminium. In 2024, the monthly total electricity de…
How demand-side flexibility can contribute to security of supply
Demand-side flexibility is a term that describes situations where consumers change the time or the amount of their electricity consumption. By reducing or shif…