General news
Authority acts fast to improve the rules on outage coordination
- Generation
- Transmission
The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko is strengthening security of our electricity supply by improving the outage coordination rules.
Generators, large electricity consumers, and owners of assets for transporting power need to take assets (like wind turbines, manufacturing equipment and power lines) out of service periodically for maintenance and refurbishment.
If too many assets are on outage at the same time, there may be insufficient electricity capacity to meet demand. Outage coordination rules manage this risk by enabling electricity asset owners and the system operator to effectively coordinate schedules for planned outages.
The Authority has fast-tracked amendments to the rules to support secure and reliable electricity supply to New Zealand consumers.
We are amending the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 (Technical Code D of Schedule 8.3) to:
- include unplanned outages and asset capacity reductions
- provide minimum requirements for outage disclosures
- require disclosure in the format specified by the system operator
- make some minor updates to clarify the obligations.
The new outage rules will be effective on 1 January 2025.
We will monitor the impact during the first quarter of 2025 and assess whether any other changes are necessary.
We would like to thank all those who engaged with our consultation on the First steps in improving outage coordination that informed this decision.
Why we fast-tracked this work
During winter 2024, market participants responded to security of supply concerns in a number of ways, including minimising their planned outages. While this was helpful, it also increased the need for outages this spring through to autumn 2025.
To mitigate the potential for increased security of supply risks, the Authority decided to fast-track the code amendments, using a staged approach to enable initial changes to be implemented by January.
We identified a set of changes that allowed for meaningful consultation over a shorter 3-week consultation period and could be quickly adopted by participants.
We also adapted how we worked at the Authority, realigning our processes to the scope and complexity of the task, to ensure robust analysis under a tight timeline.
In response to consultation feedback, we made changes to our proposal so that asset owners and the system operator could accommodate the necessary upgrades to their tools and processes by January.
This more agile response to an emerging risk reflects our focus on both updating the regulations and changing the way we regulate, to achieve a system that improves long-term outcomes for all consumers and Aotearoa New Zealand.
View project: Managing peak electricity demand
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