Photo: Supplied / Transpower
Transpower says it is planning ahead to manage tight electricity supply as demand increases during winter.
The national grid operator said the tight supply situations during short periods of peak demand were due to increasing electricity demand as well as New Zealand's transition to a future with a decarbonised economy powered by renewable electricity generation.
Trasnpower chief executive Alison Andrew said higher volumes of renewable but intermittent generation-like wind had left the electricity system susceptible to equipment faults and changing weather conditions at times of high peak demand, particularly during winter cold snaps.
"The transition to higher levels of renewables is critical but we also need other flexible generation capacity or demand response that can react quickly to support it during times of high usage," she said.
Andrew said the operator was working to ensure consumers were not disconnected due to an electricity supply shortfall at these times.
Transpower was recently fined $150,000 for its role in the mid-winter blackouts of 2021.
Around 34,000 households lost power on one of the coldest nights of the year in August 2021, as insufficient supplies were arranged for the surge in demand.
An industry panel ruled Transpower breached an industry code in the management of power supplies, and communications with power companies.