Transpower New Zealand’s Post

It was another #pinkshirtdaynz to remember across our offices! Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu, Mauri Tū, Mauri Ora - Speak Up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying!

We were thrilled to see our very own Arosha Aluwihare and Chris Schultz join around 6,000 other attendees at the Red Hat Summit in Colorado earlier this month, where IT professionals congregate to learn, collaborate, and talk technological innovation. It was here that Arosha and Chris received our Red Hat Innovation Award on behalf of the many people at Transpower who played a part in a multi-year modernisation of the market system.   It was a great opportunity to share with international organisations the story of our market system modernisation, and more broadly the work Transpower is doing to enable the energy future here in New Zealand. We also enjoyed hearing the success of others in utilising technology to achieve outcomes with meaningful benefits to their respective sectors and countries. A big congrats to Capgemini for taking home the Innovator of the Year award!   There's definitely a lot of inspiring work happening across the world with technology, and we enjoy playing our part in that. 

  Last Thursday Transpower, along with local lines company Unison Networks Ltd, announced our preferred plan for increasing the resilience of Hawke’s Bay’s power system.   Strengthening and improving the Redclyffe substation at its current location is Transpower’s and Unison’s preferred way forward. This approach will provide the resilience the local community expects far more quickly and at a lower cost than if we built a new substation elsewhere.   We will be consulting on the plan in mid-2024. Redclyffe substation was damaged during Cyclone Gabrielle last year.   As always, it’s been great working with Unison Networks Ltd to find a way forward for the people and industry of the Hawkes Bay; now and into the future. Check out the story below which was published in the Hawkes Bay Today. For more information you can read the full media release here https://lnkd.in/gTC3z9pj

Communications and customer teams across the electricity industry together worked through a simulated exercise yesterday which tested our collective response to events on the power system. This was an opportunity to put cross-industry and public messaging to the test and see what that looks like at different levels, from transmission through to local lines companies and retailers.   When power system events occur and have an impact on electricity consumers, it is our collective responsibility as an industry to ensure New Zealanders understand how we are responding, the reason behind our actions, as well as how they could help in events such as a potential shortfall in electricity.   Big thanks to Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko for working with us in organising the exercise, and to everyone else who participated. It is another step in ensuring the industry is joined up in our approach to keeping the power on for New Zealand. 

Control room operators from across the country came together yesterday to test the industry’s response to events on the power system that have the potential to affect the supply of electricity to consumers.    The near real-time simulation exercise was a key part of our work with the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko and the wider industry to test processes for managing and responding to potential electricity supply shortfalls.    With winter approaching rapidly, it was great to have almost 80 people from most of the country’s generators and local lines companies taking part, alongside some of the major industrial customers that connect directly to our national electricity transmission grid.    Thank you to participants for playing your part in ensuring the industry is joined up around our approach to keeping the power flowing for New Zealanders.    The second part of the exercise will take place next week to test communications from Transpower out through lines companies and retailers to end consumers. We are running this alongside the Electricity Authority and are looking forward to putting the industry’s communications and customer teams through their paces. 

We recently sought proposals for electricity flexibility services in the upper South Island. Demand for electricity is growing, and procuring flexibility services is one option to make sure the national transmission grid can continue to deliver the electricity that people and businesses in this region need into the future. We were really pleased with the responses we received, demonstrating that solutions from flexible sources such as demand response and distributed resources like solar-combined grid-scale batteries may be a possible alternative in the upper South Island to building new transmission infrastructure, as we approach the limits of the existing lines. Non-transmission solutions will also be considered in our upcoming project investigations in other parts of Aotearoa, so watch this space! For the upper South Island, we’re now assessing the information we received to see whether a single or mix of non-transmission solutions will be part of our shortlist of options to consult on further. We will be in touch with each submitter individually to update them on our assessments. Later this year, we will publish a shortlist consultation on options for the upper South Island, including whether one or more non-transmission solutions are viable at a price that compares well against building more electricity infrastructure. Following this consultation, we will develop a preferred option and make an investment proposal to the Commerce Commission. It’s an exciting time to be involved in this industry, as we make sure increasing amounts of electricity can reach businesses and communities across Aotearoa.

We’re thrilled to have been named a Red Hat Innovation Award winner! With companies across the globe vying for the title, we demonstrate once again how New Zealand can deliver technological innovations that stand out on an international stage. The award recognises our multi-year transformation that successfully positioned our market system to adapt to an evolving electricity market as New Zealand increases its electricity use. We delivered the biggest change to the wholesale electricity market since it was created in 1996. We’re also in the running for the 2024 Red Hat Innovator of the Year which is determined by public vote. If you want to show your support for New Zealand success in technology, vote using the link below and share with your networks! https://lnkd.in/dgD-RxF We might be a small island in the South Pacific, but we’ve been known to win against the odds time and time again! Red Hat GE Vernova Planit Circini Limited DXC Technology

We're #hiring. Apply today or share this post with your network. Check out these videos to hear our team talk about what they do. https://bit.ly/3TLvYBb

We're #hiring. Apply today or share this post with your network. Check out these videos to hear our team talk about what they do. https://bit.ly/3TLvYBb

We're #hiring. Apply today or share this post with your network. Check out these videos to hear our team talk about what they do. https://bit.ly/3TLvYBb