Electricity Commission seeks consultation on transmission Statement of Opportunities
The Electricity Commission today released its draft Initial Statement of Opportunities (SOO) for consultation.
“The SOO is a critical first step in the process for consideration of Transpower’s Grid Upgrade Plan. It lays out a wide
range of information about the electricity system for stakeholders, including Transpower, to allow them to better
prepare Grid Upgrade Plans, in Transpower’s case, and alternatives to transmission, in the case of others,” said Roy
Hemmingway, Chair of the Electricity Commission.
The SOO is for information purposes only and does not directly figure in the Electricity Commission’s eventual decisions
on Transpower’s grid upgrade proposals. However, it contains important information about the current state of the
electricity system and expected future demand. It also sets out five potential generation scenarios against which
Transpower’s proposals and any suggested alternatives will need to be tested.
The Commission is releasing this draft SOO as an ‘initial’ SOO, because it contains a simplified reliability analysis
for planning purposes that will be made more robust in future versions of the SOO.
The Commission was recently asked by Minister of Energy Trevor Mallard to undertake a thorough investigation of
alternatives to Transpower’s proposed 400 kilovolt line from South Waikato to Auckland. The Initial SOO will give those
proposing alternatives an important tool for assessing the value of their proposals.
Interested parties have until Friday, 10 June 2005 to submit comments on the draft Initial SOO to the Commission. The
document and instructions for submission can be found on the Commission’s website: www.electricitycommission.govt.nz. -
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