New Zealand Gazette – 2008 – No. 92

Page 2486

✨ Grid Upgrade Plans



2486

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 92

4 JUNE 2008

projects and the wider synergies of the grid, including facilitating renewables, least-
cost provision of new generation and increased competition between generators. It
will also enable consideration of investment proposals for the grid as a whole within
a longer term framework (for example, over five years).

  1. Unless otherwise agreed by the Commission, grid upgrade plans should also be
    consistent with the statement of opportunity forecasts and wider Government
    energy policy, including applicable policies on renewable generation and climate
    change.

  2. Grid upgrade plans should demonstrate the rationale for all expenditure
    (operational, maintenance and capital), taking into account the prescribed reliability
    standards and good industry practice for power system operation. The plans
    should demonstrate that the proposed expenditure is required to meet these
    standards and/or deliver the greatest net benefit after taking into account
    transmission alternatives and Government energy policy requirements to the extent
    achievable.

  3. In the development of grid upgrade plans; the Government’s objective is that:

• Transpower should undertake the detailed planning role (including the
assessment of both transmission and transmission alternatives); and

• the Commission should, without undue delay, review and approve grid
upgrade plans that meet the criteria set out in the Electricity Governance
Rules, and reject applications that fail them.

  1. The Commission should make available to Transpower and other stakeholders
    clear and specific policies and processes relating to how grid upgrade plans in
    general, and any particular plan specifically, will be developed, and then reviewed
    and approved or rejected. These criteria should be clearly explained so that the
    review process and linkages to other processes such as the statement of
    opportunities are transparent and can be understood and the analysis can be
    replicated by stakeholders.

  2. The Commission should ensure that affected parties are fully consulted on grid
    upgrade plans.

  3. Transpower should be able to seek a determination from the Commission on
    updated grid upgrade plans in response to events that significantly affect any
    capital investment already approved under a grid upgrade plan.

  4. Where the Commission approves a grid upgrade plan, the full costs associated with
    implementing the grid upgrade plan should be recoverable by Transpower in
    accordance with the pricing methodology determined by the Commission.

Planning ahead

  1. The Government is concerned to ensure that the necessary planning and securing
    of consents (or designations) and land access rights for investments in the
    transmission system will meet needs.

  2. The Commission should encourage Transpower to identify and secure appropriate
    interests in land, designations and resource consents required for transmission
    corridors well in advance of urgent needs. Transpower should be able to recover
    the reasonable net costs of doing this work.



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Online Sources for this page:

VUW Te Waharoa — PDF NZ Gazette 2008, No 92


Gazette.govt.nz — PDF NZ Gazette 2008, No 92




✨ LLM interpretation of page content

🏭 Investment in and maintenance of the transmission network (continued from previous page)

🏭 Trade, Customs & Industry
Transmission network, investment, maintenance, grid upgrade plans, Transpower, Commission, reliability standards, Government energy policy