Part 6A exemption application from Top Energy Limited and Ngāwhā Generation Limited – final decision

The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko has published its final decision on an application by Top Energy Limited and Ngāwhā Generation Limited for an amendment to their existing exemption from arm’s-length rules 9 and 10 in Part 6A of the Code.

Top Energy Limited, Ngāwhā Generation Limited, and senior management common to both sought the amendment to the existing exemption to allow geothermal generation of up to 117MW and proposed solar generation of up to 10MW from Ngāwhā Springs Power Station. An amended exemption would allow Top Energy Limited and Ngāwhā Generation Limited to continue to share senior management with an increase in generation.

We released a draft decision on 3 November 2023 and consulted for three weeks. We received one submission on our draft decision.

The Authority’s final decision is to:

• grant the application for an amendment to the existing exemption for geothermal generation up to 117MW
• decline the application in respect of the proposed solar generation on the basis that Part 6A does not apply to non-rotating generation and the Authority does not have jurisdiction to consider this aspect of the application. We are currently consulting on amending Part 6A to include all generation technology as part of our omnibus consultation.

We consider that by amending (with conditions) the existing exemption to allow increased geothermal generation, competition and reliability is either not affected or improved, and efficiency is improved.

Read the final decision, Appendix A and Appendix B