Our Market Operations Weekly Report contains the latest information about the electricity market, including security of supply, wholesale price trends and system capacity.
It is published every Tuesday. Click here to receive the report via email every week.
If you have any comments or questions please contact the Market Operations Team at [email protected].
Latest Report / More Information
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Current Storage Positions
Overview
New Zealand hydro storage now sits below the 90th percentile at 115%. However,hydro combined with strong wind, solar and geothermal continues to maintain the high level of renewable generation in the mix we have observed in the last four months.
This week’s insight looks at the differences between 1 minute, 5 minute and 30 minute aggregate average intermittent generation and the continued growth of intermittent generation.
Security of Supply and Capacity
Energy
National hydro storage decreased from 117% to 115% of the historic mean. South Island hydro storage decreased from 113% to 110% of the historic mean, and North Island storage increased from 158% to 166%.
Capacity
Residuals were healthy with only the lowest residual occurring at 947 MW during the morning peak of Tuesday 3 February.
The N-1-G margins in the NZGB forecast are healthy through to the end of March. Within seven days we monitor these more closely through the market schedules. The latest NZGB report is available on the NZGB website.
Electricity Market Commentary
Weekly Demand
Total demand last week increased from 700 GWh to 710 GWh the week before and has been lower than that observed at this time of year since 2023. The highest demand peak of 5,395 MW occurred at 5:30 pm on Monday 2 February.
Weekly Prices
The average wholesale electricity spot price at Ōtāhuhu last week was $23/MWh,increasing from $2/MWh the week prior. Wholesale prices peaked at $250/MWh at Ōtāhuhu at 9 pm on Wednesday 4 February. There were several instances of price separation between the North and South islands throughout the week. This first occurred on Monday 2 February when the HVDC flow reached its transfer limit, and Wednesday 4 February during an unplanned HVDC outage and an Under Frequency Event (UFE).
Generation Mix
Total renewable contribution to the mix was 98% last week, the 18th consecutive week above 96%. This consisted of hydro generation which remained above its average at 59% of the generation mix. Wind generation was moderate at 10% of the mix, solar generation was 2% of the mix and the geothermal share was 27% of the mix, above its average contribution of 23%. Thermal generation was at 1% of the mix.
HVDC
HVDC flow was mostly northward last week with some overnight southward HVDC transfer during high wind and low demand periods. In total, 59 GWh was transferred north and 2 GWh was transferred South.
Under Frequency Event
An Under Frequency Event occurred on Wednesday 4 February at 8:30 pm following the unplanned HVDC outage. See the Customer Advice Notice (CAN) for more information.
Consultations
We have released our initial engagement paper as part of the development of a System Operator strategy. This outlines why a refreshed strategy is needed now and describes our approach to shaping the future of system operations. Responses are due by Friday 27 February.