The Electricity Authority says tight peak supply conditions may be more frequent this winter due to the power system being in transition, with more intermittent renewable generation (file image) Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Better information will be provided about the how tight the country's power supply is, as the electricity sector prepares for potential winter disruptions.
The Electricity Authority is pushing ahead with a number of options to better manage potential supply issues during times of peak demand.
Chief executive Sarah Gillies said one option would be ready in time for this winter: industry participants would receive better information from the system operator Transpower about how tight the supply and demand balance was forecast to be.
"That will help improve decisions either to make generation capacity available or demand response available."
The authority said tight peak supply conditions may be more frequent this winter due to the power system being in transition, with more intermittent renewable generation.
Four other options would be developed for potential implementation by this winter.
They included providing forecast spot prices under demand sensitivity cases, and selectively increasing existing ancillary service cover at times to offset greater uncertainty at times of high demand.
Five other initiatives would be progressed for winter 2024 and beyond, the authority said.
They included potentially requiring retailers to make compensation payments to customers affected by forced power cuts.
The option to procure additional resources outside the spot market would not be progressed any further.
The authority said it "has concerns that the implementation of an ancillary service that is not integrated with the energy market may have unintended consequences which would not be for the long-term benefit of consumers and once in place the ancillary service may also be difficult to modify or remove".