Kerre Woodham: Another example of our power industry being unable to cope

Ah, another cold snap, another example of our power industry being unable to cope. I hope you all had cold showers and turned off the heated towel rails and ate cold gruel this morning to do your bit to reduce power consumption. The reason for the latest orange alert is that there has been a surge in demand and the wind turbines haven't been turning - yada, yada, yada. Different excuses same result. It gets cold, and our electricity suppliers can't cope. David Seymour says it's Third World stuff —it is— and Simeon Brown says it's all the fault of the last lot. 

To be fair, according to the experts, there's been a lack of investment in new renewable generation during most of the past 10 years. Although generators will be quick to point out the renewables they're in the process of developing, and New Zealand’s electricity supply is set for a welcome boost in the second half of winter with Meridian’s newest wind farm on track for early completion. When completed, Harapaki will be the country’s second largest wind farm, offering enough electricity to power most of Hawke’s Bay.  

So one of the reasons for the shortage in power this morning, one of the reasons given was that the wind hadn’t been turning the turbine. So if the wind doesn’t turn them, you need a backup, you need a plan B. 

Gentailers were also reluctant to invest too much into new energy sources as they waited to hear the fate of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. Had it closed, it would have released 572 megawatts of excess generating capacity on to the market. The electricity market model provides strong disincentives against power companies bringing on extra capacity until they are sure it will be fully absorbed. 

The International Energy Authority noted arguments that the kind of market model New Zealand has adopted could result in underinvestment in new generation as far back as in 2001. And you can see that if your primary motivation is to make money, you’re not going to dump the market full of the product that you’re trying to sell, you’re going to hold of. 

Okay they’re building a new hydro lake. Oh, no they’re not. Tiwai Point might close and we might get more electricity into the market. No it isn’t. So then they try and play catchup with major electricity users. 

Major Electricity Users Group chairman John Harbord warned in April that generators were incentivised to keep the market on the “precipice of shortage”.  And that is precisely where we are this morning. Ladies and gentlemen, where we are on the precipice of shortage yet again, while successive governments argue who did least, and as power companies claim to be doing their bit to invest and build in alternative energy sources. We shiver in our kitchens, while the Teslas languish in the garage, having cold gruel and dripping on untoasted bread to do our bit.   

Just as we did last winter and the winter before that and will no doubt continue to do so until our grandchildren have grandchildren. 

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