Electricity Authority seeking a better view of generation and investment plans

The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko is driving for better information from existing and new players in the electricity market looking to bring new generation into the system.

Today it has released two significant documents designed to give the market more detail about projects in development.

The first piece released today is the Eye on electricity commentary which digs into proposed new generation projects and supplements the investment pipeline dashboard recently published alongside details of 145 investment projects which have already been announced.

This work builds on industry surveys undertaken in 2022 and 2023 to investigate the progress and quantum of new generation already in the pipeline. It breaks projects down into committed generation projects and actively pursued projects, and also notes if they are being undertaken by one of the generator-retailers or by other companies.

The second is a consultation paper Improving visibility of generation investment clause 2.16 information notices. This proposes the Authority collects and analyses additional information around grid-connected loads and generation projects, as well as the cost of generation developments on the transmission and distribution networks.

Electricity Authority chief executive Sarah Gillies said the Authority has a significant programme of work to support and encourage more investment and competition in the market, and these two documents are important parts of the data collection workstream.

“We need to make sure enough new generation is being built to meet demand both in terms of both energy and capacity at peak times and understand any constraints to that investment. As part of that we need good, reliable and timely information about the status of these projects and anything that is impeding their progress. The key priority here is making sure new generation is coming to market as quickly as possible.”

“Previously we have done annual surveys of planned investment but that is too slow and we want to be able to release more detailed and up-to-date information about new generation,” Sarah Gillies said.

The Authority has been accelerating some of its investment and innovation work programme in response to the current supply shortages which has been causing the wholesale market to be volatile and to reach unusually high peaks.

It has already worked with Transpower to release additional water from the hydro lakes and developed an energy margin dashboard showing generators’ weekly margins, and the Authority has a number of other initiatives underway.