Transpower cautions electricity supply on Friday morning still looking 'tight'
Thursday, 11 August 2022
Transpower says electricity supplies on Friday morning are still looking tight, but it is continuing to talk down the chances of power cuts.
The national grid operator held an online briefing with generators on Thursday afternoon during which it again called on them to find more generation to put into the market.
Transpower advised power companies on Tuesday that it expected there would only be a small buffer of reserve generation to cope with any unexpected events during the period of Friday morning peak demand.
That notice requested generators fire up more generation to reduce the risk of supply not meeting demand between 7.30am and 9am, a call it reiterated on Thursday afternoon.
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General manager of operations Stephen Jay said it had renewed its request “to ensure we have a sufficient buffer in the system in the event of a generation asset failure or a significant temperature drop”.
“The situation is still tight for tomorrow morning, but we do not anticipate any disruption to consumers’ electricity supply at this stage,” he said.
Jay noted Transpower could not instruct generators to offer more capacity.
Generators risk losing money if they fire up expensive coal, gas or diesel generation that turns out to be surplus to requirements or only needed for very short periods, and Transpower does not currently have the legal power to require power companies turn on generation that they had not planned to have running.
In the event of a full-blown grid emergency it can instruct network companies to cut their demand, for example by turning off rippled-controlled hot-water systems or, if necessary, cutting power to customers.
Jay forecast on Tuesday that electricity demand could hit an all-time high on Friday morning as the current cold snap moved further north.
Its concern over power supplies have been heightened by forecasts that there will be little wind on Friday morning, reducing the contribution of wind generation, although wind forecasts have been fluctuating.
Morning demand commonly peaks in winter at about 6500MW and Transpower aims to keep at least 200MW of generation in reserve to cope with contingencies, such as power plant outages.
Genesis and Contact Energy are the main owners of thermal generation plants that are normally relied on to meet periods of peak demand.
Both have their own retail customers to supply and also offer power into the wholesale market.
Genesis Energy spokesman Chris Mirams said on Wednesday that it was “comfortable with our own position, with some flexibility to offer more to the market if needed”.
Contact Energy chief generation officer John Clark said on Thursday, shortly before Transpower’s briefing, that Transpower was doing the right thing in issuing its notices.
“The market is responding as generators make generation available and we are continuing to work through and communicate with Transpower on this,” he said.