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
National hydro storage now sits at 130% of the historic mean, above the 90th percentile. Residuals were healthy last week, with over 1,000 MW available during most peaks. Total demand increased back to levels we have previously seen at this time of year.
In this week's insight we look at the near 0 MW of national wind generation that occurred last week and the effects of low wind generation.
Security of Supply and Capacity
Energy
New Zealand hydro storage increased from 122% to 130% of the historic mean last week. North Island hydro storage stayed at 124% of the historic mean for this time of year and South Island storage increased significantly from 122% to 131%.
Capacity
Margins were healthy with most peaks over 1,000 MW last week. The lowest residual occurred on 6 November due to very low wind generation but still remained healthy at above 700 MW.
The N-1-G margins in the NZGB forecast are healthy for November and December. 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 increased by 24 GWh to 723 GWh last week due to a combination of increasing industrial load and it being a normal work week after Labour Day. Demand peaked at 5,335 MW at 8am Monday 4 November.
Weekly Prices
The average wholesale electricity spot price at Ōtāhuhu increased to $50/MWh from $15/MWh the week prior, and Invercargill increased from $11/MWh to $36/MWh. Wholesale prices peaked at Benmore at 4pm Tuesday 5 November at $273/MWh during a period of price separation due to the HVDC ramp rate constraint.
There were several occurrences of price separation throughout the week during periods of low wind which caused high northward transfer along the HVDC. Consequently there was an increase in reserve prices and AC transmission losses which increased the spot prices in the North Island.
Generation Mix
The average renewable percentage for the week increased by 5% to 96%. Wind generation decreased by 4% to 11% of the generation mix, geothermal contributed 20%, and hydro increased by 9% to 65% of the generation mix. Thermal generation decreased by 3% and continued to remain low at just 2% of the mix due to high hydro commitment and Huntly 5 remaining on outage until the end of November.
HVDC
HVDC flow was predominantly net northward last week with 100 GWh sent north and less than 1 GWh sent south. High northward HVDC transfer was due to long periods of low wind generation and high South Island hydro generation.