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Spot power prices in New Zealand fell last week on higher hydro lake levels amid steady demand.
Prices at the North Island reference point of Haywards fell 4.4 per cent to an average $68.23 per megawatt hour (MWh), while at the South Island reference point of Benmore prices were 4.1 per cent lower at an average $68.92 per MWh.
National demand rose 2 per cent to 105,003 MWh.
"The hydro inflows have been a lot more healthy over the past 10 days or so, which has stabilised the situation," an analyst said.
Also a new generating unit at the giant Huntly thermal station is due to become fully operational at the end of the week. The unit has already been helping cap prices by allowing hydro resources to be conserved.
"The other part of the story is the ongoing very mild temperatures, which means that demand has been substantially lower than this time last year," the analyst said.
Wholesale market operator M-Co said New Zealand's stored energy over the past seven days was at 81 per cent of average, up 6 percentage points from a week ago.
National inflows were 94 per cent of average over the week to Tuesday down from 81 per cent in the previous week.
Around 60 per cent of New Zealand's electricity is produced by hydro power stations.
There have been largely dry conditions since February, resulting in reduced inflows into catchments in the South Island where all electricity is produced by hydro power stations, forcing greater reliance on more expensive thermal power.
- REUTERS
