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Grid investment test

 

Investigation of the Value of Unserved Energy

On 3 September 2008 the Commission released a Request for Information for an Investigation of the value of unserved energy, as it is currently defined and applied under the Electricity Governance Rules. The Investigation will be undertaken between November 2008 and June 2009.

Under section III of part F of the Rules the Commission may approve transmission investments proposed by Transpower (the national electricity grid owner and operator). In making decisions on transmission investment the Commission considers a cost/benefit test that is specified in the Rules (the Grid Investment Test). The evaluation of reliability benefits (or costs) is a key input to this economic assessment.

The purpose of the value (or values) of unserved energy is to provide an estimate of the economic impact of planned and unplanned outages. As such, the value of unserved energy represents the expected economic impact of the unserved energy to affected customers as a result of these outages.

The Commission expects to undertake the Investigation in three stages with competitive tenders prior to Stages 1 and 2. The purpose of the RFI is to elicit information from interested parties as to what they require from the Commission in order to appropriately tender for and undertake the Investigation.

Interested parties can obtain a copy of the Request for Information from the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) at http://www.gets.govt.nz or by downloading the RFI below.

 

The Commission made its recommendation to the Minister of Energy on the Grid Investment Test (GIT) on 17 December 2004. This recommendation was agreed on 20 December 2004 and was formally notified in the Gazette on 13 January 2005. 

GIT and Explanatory Material

In developing the Grid Reliability Standards (GRS) the Commission also reviewed the GIT. The Commission consulted on the proposed changes to the GIT in accordance with the processes set out in the Electricity Act 1992 and in section lll of part F and made its recommendations to the Minister on 1 April 2005.

Recommendations regarding application of Grid Investment Test by TransÉnergie US (TEUS)

The Commission engaged TEUS to review how the Grid Investment Test (GIT) would be applied to Transpower’s proposed 400kV upgrade between Otahuhu and Whakamaru, and to make comments and recommendations to the Commission that may help the Commission achieve a successful outcome - one that is perceived as fair and correct by the many stakeholders in the process.

This report provides those comments and recommendations, based on TEUS’ review of documents published by both Transpower and the Electricity Commission, and a meeting with Commissioners and a series of meetings with Commission staff in August 2005.

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Last update on 04 September 2008 10:50 AM