“Around 60% of customers told us through a survey that they would like our help in managing their water heating to maximise efficiency and savings,” he said.
Adjusting the time when water was heated would reduce strain on the national grid at peak times – usually mornings and evenings, especially in winter.
“Demand for electricity is increasing as we transition away from gas for heating and cooking, and more people replace petrol vehicles with EVs,” England-Hall said.
“That’s a good thing as New Zealand heads toward the target of being net-zero by 2050, but it also places more demand on the grid.”
Between 80% and 95% of New Zealand’s electricity was renewable on any given day, but when demand outstripped supply from renewable sources such as hydro schemes and wind farms, coal and gas may be used to fill the gap.
Reducing electricity demand at peak times could increase the proportion of renewable electricity used for supply.
Bluecurrent chief executive Neil Williams said enabling energy load shifting could help achieve a smooth energy transition.
England-Hall told the Herald that Genesis would, over time, be able to learn about demand-side “flex”.
He said participants in the trial should not experience a drop in service but would see a fall in cost.
“If we can heat your water when it’s cheaper, or when the grid is under load, then the cost of energy at those points is lower,” England-Hall said.
The trial will require “quite a bit” of cooperation with the electricity distribution companies, he said.
New Zealand already has a system called ripple control, which allows distributors to turn down the power used for water heating overnight over an entire network.
Genesis’s trial is a similar concept to ripple control, although it will target individual consumers.
“Demand side flexibility is controlled - each asset within the network can be controlled individually.
“And the timing of that asset coming in and out of the network can be controlled individually.”
England-Hall said demand flexibility will be made possible with software - no hardware for the customer will be necessary.
The trial is aimed at discovering the cost savings on the retail side, but also on the generation side as it may cost less to service customers.
Demand flex could end up being critical for the power grid when it is under the pump.
“As New Zealand’s energy grid becomes more renewable, there has been more intermittency in generation, and there will need to be more coordinated control of demand, and therefore demand flexibility becomes more important.”
Genesis aims to secure 150 megawatts of customer flexibility by 2028.
“With demand growing, more renewable energy, greater intermittency things like demand flex will become more valuable and more important,” he said.
Genesis Energy’s power generation assets include the coal and gas-fired Huntly Power Station and hydro stations in the central North Island and in the South Island.
Last month, the company said a “challenging operating environment” drove its earnings sharply lower over the June year.
The power generator and retailer’s net profit fell to $131.1 million, down by 33% from the previous year.
The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and financial instruments came to $407.2m, down 22% from the previous year’s Ebitdaf of $523.5m.
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets and the primary sector. He joined the Herald in 2011.
