Summary
Security of Supply
National hydro storage decreased by five percentage points this week to 123% of average for the time of year (77% of full).
North Island hydro storage decreased four percentage points to 129% of the historical average, and South Island hydro storage decreased by six percentage points to 122% of the historical average. The decrease in storage levels was a direct result of reduced inflows in both Islands and high hydro generation.
Pohokura gas production has been steadily declining throughout the year despite recent maintenance work and is currently producing around 88 TJ/day. On a national level, countering this, Maui production is up to about 100 TJ/day.
Weekly Demand
National weekly demand was 757 GWh, an increase of 31 GWh (four percent) on the previous week. This increase in demand is due to a comparison against the four day work week of Labour Weekend.
This week's national demand peak was 5,706 MW and occurred at 8.00am on Thursday 4 November.
Generation Mix
Total generation was 792 GWh this week. The generation mix continues to portray high hydrology with hydro contributing 65%, and thermal just 4.4% of the mix. Wind generation comprised 9.0% of the mix with a peak of 669 MW at 7.00am on 3 November 2021. Wind generation was consistently high from 3 November till 7 November.
Weekly Prices
The average price at Haywards was $77/MWh, up 16% from $66/MWh last week.
Prices at Haywards peaked at $140/MWh at 8.00am on Monday 1 November. This was during a period of low wind generation and thus, thermal generation was greater to meet demand.
There was minimal price separation throughout the week. There was a filter outage on the HVDC finishing on 5 November, however, this did not lead to a period of large price separation. This was because Huntly five was generating high and acting as the risk setter in the North Island during this time period. This meant the North Island could use South Island reserves, which leads to reduced price separation.
HVDC
HVDC transfer has remained mostly northward throughout the week because of high hydro generation in the South Island. There were a few periods of southward flow, which coincided with high wind and low overnight demand.
Fact of the Week
In New Zealand we use around 46 million barrels of crude oil every year. That is more than 1,600 litres of crude oil per person, per year. Together, that is enough oil to fill the Wellington Region Stadium around 13 times.(link)
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