2023 was a record year for grid connections, Transpower says

Two breakthrough projects have added significantly to the country's power generation capabilities. Photo / Getty Images

A record five new renewable power generators offered power to the national electricity grid over 2023, Transpower says.

The state-owned company said that was the highest number of new generators to commission projects since the current market was established in 1996.

The new generation includes three wind farms, plus two significant milestones for the New Zealand electricity industry.

Those milestones are the first utility-scale solar farm and the first utility-scale battery energy storage system.

Collectively the new generation units can offer 378MW (megawatts) to the wholesale electricity market managed by Transpower.

The additional capacity is around 4 per cent of New Zealand’s almost 10,000MW of total installed generation capacity.

Turbines under construction at the Harapaki wind farm at Te Pōhue in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Warren Buckland

Transpower general manager of operations John Clarke said electricity supply was tight in recent years, and each new generation unit would bolster overall system security.

“Demand for electricity is increasing across New Zealand, and it’s critical that the industry continues to build and connect new generation to ensure New Zealanders can continue to access electricity when they need it,” he said.

“In Transpower’s role as the operator of the power system, we welcome the efforts from industry to connect this new generation.

“And we will need the pace of this work to accelerate if we are going to be able to continue to provide an affordable, reliable and resilient electricity supply into the future,” Clarke said.

A key input is Transpower’s connection pipeline, which includes enquiries to build new generation as well as new demand from major industrial customers and local lines companies.

Transpower’s general manager of strategy and customer, Chantelle Bramley, said the last biannual monitoring report showed new generation built this year was timely, with significant new demand forecast in the years ahead.

“It is essential for New Zealand that a large number of the generation projects in our connection pipeline progress quickly through consenting and commissioning if the electricity industry is to meet a forecast almost 70 per cent increase in demand by 2050,” she said.

“We hope to see the record five generation connections this year repeated or even beaten over coming years as more and more connection inquiries convert into committed projects,” she said.

The five projects comprise Meridian’s Harapaki wind farm and Mercury NZ’s Turitea South and Kaiwera Downs wind farms.

Infratec’s Rotohiko battery project is complete and commissioning is in progress for Lodestone Energy’s Kaitāia solar farm.

Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets and the primary sector. He joined the Herald in 2011.