Industry Exercise 2026 strengthens sector readiness

Last week, the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko and Transpower brought together over 50 organisations from across the electricity sector for the Industry Exercise 2026.

The exercise practised how the sector would respond to a major space weather event. While the scenario was hypothetical, it reflects a real risk for New Zealand’s electricity system.

The Sun is currently at solar maximum, the most active stage in its 11-year cycle. Elevated solar activity is expected to continue into 2027, increasing the likelihood and potential severity of space weather events. These events can disrupt and damage high-voltage electricity equipment.

In a major space weather event, Transpower, in its role as the System Operator, may need to temporarily switch off parts of the grid or specific generation sites to protect critical infrastructure. This could result in temporary power outages for households and businesses.

Participants worked through how a space weather event could unfold and practised how they would:

• respond to operational instructions and demand allocations
• manage operational impacts across their networks and services
• share information and communicate clearly with customers, stakeholders and the public

Participants showed strong engagement, collaboration and practical insight throughout the exercise.

We would like to thank everyone who took part. Your involvement helped test real-world processes, strengthening how we work together, and building capability, resilience and preparedness across the sector.

The Authority and Transpower are gathering feedback from participants and will share insights and recommendations to support ongoing improvements to operations and communications.