Flexibility Services facilitate the increasing electricity demand across Aotearoa by supporting the National Grid during peak demand periods, a solution to non-transmission alternatives, and assisting our teams with outage management. These various services stabilise our network during times of constraints or defer the need for costly transmission upgrades, keeping electricity secure and affordable for consumers. Transpower partners with Flexibility Service Providers (FSP) who supply additional generation or temporarily reduce and/or redistribute their conventional demand to alleviate network constraints.
In the demonstrated demand response scenario to the right, flex providers (such as FSPs) are redistributing their peak period electricity consumption.
The shaded grey area in the graph corresponds to the typical daily electricity demand profile for Aotearoa, which peaks in the morning and evening.
The navy line represents a single FSPs participant temporarily reducing their electricity usage during peak demand events and shifting the difference to non-peak hours. When multiple FSPs (both consumers and generators) adjust their consumption or output in response to System Operator requests, the total demand at each grid exit point decreases noticeably during peak periods, resulting in a smoothened demand curve throughout the day. This reduces pressure on our Grid, ensuring line capacity remains within standard the designed security limits (e.g N-1).
The value in flexibility is increasingly being realised throughout Aotearoa as well as with our connected parties. Learn how your business could contribute to our National Grid's flexibility by exploring our Flexibility Projects page.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why do we need flexibility?
Flexibility Services help to:
- Support the integration of renewable generation and Distributed and Consumer Energy Resources
- Enable demand-side participation to reduce peak loads
- Maintain reliability and security during peak demand and unexpected events
- Manage constraints on New Zealand's National Grid without overinvesting in new transmission assets
- Reduce consumer costs by deferring and avoiding Grid upgrades (NTS)
- Assisting with outage management (Planned | Unplanned)
- Construction risk mitigation
- How might Transpower procure flexibility?
We will connect with local energy businesses and industries who have expressed interest in providing Flexibility Services, either through direct contact or by publishing a Request for Interest. If investing in non-transmission solution programmes proves financially advantageous over investing in traditional upgrades, we will issue a Request for Proposals seeking innovative, practical flexibility offers which best address our needs.
- How might Transpower use flexibility? (Example)
One possible scenario is when the system requires Flexibility Services, the System Operator could orchestrate a response by sending out a Customer Advisory Notice to our Flexibility Programme Operator who may invite participants such as FSPs) to reduce demand or activate their Distributed and Consumer Energy Resources to retain supply and demand equilibrium based on dispatch instructions. To coordinate and orchestrate these instructions, we utilise our Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) called. More about our DERMS can be found here FlexPoint™.
- What type of programmes are available?
Transpower uses flexibility to procure Non-Transmission Solutions, support outage management, mitigate construction risks, and deliver other Whole of Grid programmes. Explore Transpower's upcoming Flexibility projects to learn more.
- Interested in providing an alternative to transmission investment?
If you would like to inform Transpower of potential flexibility services which could support our flexibility initiatives, you can Register for providers of transmission alternatives/non-transmission solutions or directly contact Transpower’s Flexibility Services Team.
TPR Envision
Transpower's TPR Envision tool displays the forecast of electricity demand over time and the base case scenario of accelerated electrification. Click on our assets to view N-1 forecasts which identify where Flexibility Services could provide value for our Future Grid (orange points and lines reveal N-1 forecasts, purple points list upcoming work).
Further forecast details are provided in our Transmission Planning Report.