Northland’s current outage is just the latest episode in an ongoing series of system failures that highlight the lack of
resilience in our electricity network.
Extreme weather events, increased peak demand, and failures of supply are costing New Zealanders millions of dollars in
lost revenue.
Adoption of battery energy storage systems has begun at grid scale as well as in businesses and homes around the
country, however, more storage should be installed quickly to increase the resilience of homes and businesses as well as
reinforce the grid.
SEANZ is calling on the Government to do two things:Introduce Reward-Flexibility Pricing. Homes and businesses should be reimbursed for their ability to support the grid.
Reward-Flexibility payments would recognise the ability of electric vehicles, small and large scale solar and batteries
or other smart energy systems to alter their behaviour in response to energy shortages, selling energy back into the
grid when needed to increase electricity supply.Implement more financing options for homes and businesses to contribute to the grid.
SEANZ is urging Minister of Energy, Simeon Brown, to mandate lines companies and retailers to offer pricing which
appropriately values battery storage.
SEANZ Chair Brendan Winitana says: “power outages such as those experienced across Northland currently could be
mitigated, saving millions of dollars in lost revenue, through a higher penetration of battery storage.
“Government action on fair pricing and finance can future-proof New Zealand against inevitable power outages”.