Frequency and voltage common quality requirements updated

The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko is updating the frequency and voltage-related common quality requirements in the Electricity Industry Participation Code (Code) to help ensure New Zealand’s power system remains resilient and affordable as it transitions to a highly electrified future.

After considering feedback on consultations last year, we are making amendments to Part 8 of the Code that will improve how generating stations support frequency management and voltage stability. These updates are in response to the increasing uptake of variable and intermittent generation, such as solar panels, wind, and battery energy storage systems.

The Code amendments will:

• require more generating stations to contribute to frequency management
• improve the responsiveness of generating units
• place voltage support obligations on certain embedded generating stations
• extend fault ride-through obligations to a broader set of generators.

Together these changes will help ensure our power system remains resilient as it is increasingly shaped by the combined behaviour of thousands of distributed resources rather than a small number of large generators. International events, including major blackouts in Spain and Chile, highlight that common quality requirements must keep pace with new technologies to avoid fast-moving, system-wide failures.

By acting now, we can avoid higher-cost interventions later and support the efficient integration of emerging technologies. Strengthening common quality requirements helps to reduce the likelihood of outages and faulty operation of electrical equipment, lowers long-term system management costs, and supports efficient investment in our power system.

The Code amendments will take effect on 1 July 2026.

Read the decision papers