Our intent for research
Transpower has strong relationships within academic communities across Aotearoa New Zealand’s universities and research groups. We are dedicated to investing in the future workforce and research for New Zealand’s unique grid and power system challenges.
Transpower's research priorities are intended to guide collaboration with universities and research institutes on the material challenges facing New Zealand's electricity system. These priorities are focused on applied and strategic research that supports Transpower's roles as system operator and grid owner, while strengthening long-term resilience, security and adaptability as New Zealand transitions to a low-emissions energy future.
Our priorities reflect New Zealand's unique system characteristics. These characteristics include a long, electrically- islanded network, high renewable penetration dominated by hydro generation, increasing reliance on inverter-based resources and growing exposure to natural hazards.
Our preferences in supporting research
In supporting research our preferences are twofold:
- Firstly, our preference is for applied research that is related to material issues somewhat unique to the New Zealand context.
- Secondly, we prefer that the skills and knowledge developed by researchers are retained in New Zealand to grow the pool of post-graduate expertise in academia or
Transpower's current research priorities are:
- Power system stability
Objective: To help keep New Zealand’s power system secure and stable as the electricity sector changes, with less traditional generation, more renewable generation and distributed resources and increasingly dynamic operating conditions.
Priority research areas include:
- Understanding how the power system performs when there is less inertia and lower fault levels, including impacts on frequency, voltage and overall system stability
- Exploring how inverter-based generation and network equipment interact during both normal operation and system disturbances
- Advancing modelling, simulation and testing approaches that reflect New Zealand’s unique power system conditions
- Assessing protection system performance and coordination in increasingly complex, fast-moving systems
- Identifying emerging stability risks associated with future generation, storage and load patterns.
- Flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) and high voltage direct current (HVDC)
Objective: To optimise the role of flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) and high voltage direct current (HVDC) technologies in maintaining system security, flexibility and efficient power transfer across New Zealand's grid.
Priority research areas include:
- How HVDC systems perform and are controlled to help maintain stable frequency and voltage
- How FACTS devices work alongside generation, protection systems and other system controls
- Managing the ageing, reliability and long-term performance of power-electronic assets
- Understanding the system-wide impacts of a transmission network that relies increasingly on power-electronic technologies, including effects on power quality (the consistency and quality of electricity supplied to consumers)
- Exploring future roles for HVDC and FACTS in supporting renewable energy connections and helping manage constraints on the power system.
- Operational digital platforms and cyber-physical systems
Objective: To apply international research and lessons from leading power system operators to New Zealand’s operational environment to help strengthen the resilience, security and data accuracy of real-time power system operations as digital platforms, automation and data-driven tools become increasingly important.
Priority research areas include:
- Applying international learnings on cyber-physical resilience (the ability of digital systems and physical infrastructure to continue operating during disruptions), degraded digital operations and threat detection strategies to New Zealand’s power system and operating environment
- Assessing digital system architectures that are secured by design for real-time operations, including IT, and operational technology boundaries, system redundancy (backup capability), local control and safe integration
- Understanding how cyber security controls, data trust and operational uncertainty affect real-time operation and operator decision-making in control rooms
- Evaluating how people and technology work together, including automation and decision-support tools, to improve the ability to identify data that may be incorrect, unreliable or intentionally altered
- Developing better ways to detect inaccurate data and maintain confidence in system information across the models, platforms and timeframes used in real-time operations.
- Applying advanced monitoring and assurance capabilities for analytics, automation and AI-enabled tools within Transpower's operational, safety and regulatory environment, providing greater visibility into and confidence in data and operational systems.
- Comparing how international transmission system operators manage digital dependency, cyber-physical risks and control room transformation, and adapting relevant lessons to New Zealand's scale, island-based power system and operational context.
- Space weather
Objective: To improve understanding of space weather risks and enhance the resilience of New Zealand's electricity system to geomagnetic disturbance events (disruptions caused by solar activity interacting with Earth’s magnetic field).
Priority research areas include:
- Understanding the impacts of geomagnetic storms on transformers, protection systems and other network assets
- Improving the forecasting, monitoring and power system modelling of space weather events to support better situational awareness and preparedness.
- Developing operational strategies that help manage space weather risks in real time
- Assessing how vulnerable network assets are to space weather events and identifying practical ways to reduce those risks across New Zealand's network
- Integrating space weather risks into broader power system resilience planning and emergency response arrangements
- Coordination of energy resources and system operations
Objective: To enable effective coordination between transmission system operations, distributed energy resources and electricity market participants as New Zealand’s power system becomes more decentralised and dynamic.
Priority research areas include:
- Improving the visibility and control of distributed and distributed energy resources within the New Zealand power system
- Exploring how system operator functions, distribution networks and electricity market arrangements can work together effectively to support system operations
- Understanding the impacts of new types of electricity demand, including electrification, large-scale data centres and flexible loads (electricity use that can be shifted to different times), on power system operations
- Developing whole-of-New Zealand operational approaches that balance system security, efficiency and good outcomes for electricity consumers
- Identifying lessons from international system operators that can be adapted to New Zealand's electricity system, scale and market structure
How we engage with researchers: Purpose and principles
Transpower's research priorities are guided by the following principles which help us to prioritise our involvement:
- System relevance: Research should address material risks or opportunities for the New Zealand power system.
- Applied focus: Priority is given to research that can inform our design, operational practice, standards or investment decisions.
- Collaboration: Strong partnerships with academia, industry and international transmission owners and operators are essential.
- Future-focus: Research should anticipate emerging challenges, not only current system conditions.
- Capability building: Research should contribute to developing grid and system operator knowledge and workforce capability over time. Ideally these skills would be retained within New Zealand and there would be potential for employment at Transpower or within New Zealand’s wider energy sector.
Participation models
Transpower engages in research in a variety of ways. Our level of involvement ranges from taking a strategic interest to sponsoring projects directly and is dictated by the relevance of the research to Transpower's priorities as system operator and grid owner, as outlined above.
Models of involvement:
Sponsor: We fund or co-fund the research and help to direct the work to address a specific system need.
Active partner: We collaborate on the design and delivery of the research and provide data, models and system expertise.
Enabling contributor: We support the research through advice, access to data and expertise.
Informed observer: We monitor and learn from the research without taking active involvement.
Strategic interest only: We have an interest in the topic but are not actively involved.
To find out more
If you would like more information, or to speak to someone about research and proposal opportunities, please get in touch at: [email protected].