An All-Time High of New Power Generators Entering The Market
With five new renewable electricity generators providing power to the national wholesale electricity market, it was a record year for the electricity sector and the highest number of new generators commissioned in a single year since the current market was established in 1996.
Together with two historic firsts for the New Zealand electricity sector, this new generation comprises three wind farms as well as the country’s first utility-scale solar farm and battery energy storage system.
When taken as a whole, the new generation units have the capacity to supply 378 MW to the wholesale electricity market, which is overseen by Transpower in its capacity as System Operator. The extra capacity makes up about 4% of the nearly 10,000 MW of installed generation capacity in New Zealand.
According to John Clarke, general manager of operations at Transpower, the supply of electricity has been scarce recently, and every new generation unit that enters the market increases system security as a whole.
“In order to guarantee that New Zealanders can always access electricity when they need it, the industry must continue to build and connect new generation,” he stated. “Demand for electricity is increasing throughout New Zealand.”
As the power system’s operator, Transpower applauds industry initiatives aimed at bringing this new generation together. And in order to maintain an inexpensive, dependable, and resilient electricity supply well into the future, we will need to pick up the pace of this work.
Transpower uses its six-monthly Whakamana i Te Mauri Hiko monitoring reports to monitor New Zealand’s economic electrification progress. Transpower’s connection pipeline, which receives new demand from major industrial customers and local line companies in addition to inquiries to build new generation, is a crucial input.
The new generation built this year is timely, with significant new demand forecast in the years ahead, according to Transpower
General Manager Strategy & Customer Chantelle Bramley, citing data from the most recent six-month monitoring report released in October.
“If the electricity industry is to meet a forecast almost 70% increase in demand by 2050, it is imperative for New Zealand that a large number of the generation projects in our connection pipeline progress quickly through consenting and commissioning,” the spokesperson stated.
“As more and more connection inquiries turn into committed projects, we hope to see the record five generation connections this year repeated or even surpassed in the upcoming years.”
Ms. Bramley continued, saying that harnessing New Zealand’s electrification potential is a problem that all of Aotearoa must face.
She declared, “The electricity industry cannot do it alone.” “To build and connect enough new generation to keep ahead of growing demand, we need ongoing support from central and local government, the investment community, and all New Zealanders.”
