New high voltage demand capacity map

Giving customers access to quality electricity network data is vital to empowering commercial and industrial businesses to decarbonise and enabling Aotearoa New Zealand to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Powerco General Manager Customer Stuart Dickson says.

To make it easier for large customers to get an indication of how much capacity is available on Powerco’s electricity network in their proposed project locations, the energy distributor is now releasing its high voltage capacity in the form of an online demand capacity map.  

“We want to help our customers on their net-zero energy journey, and the link between decarbonisation and access to network capacity data is fundamental,” Stuart Dickson says.

“Data plays a vital role in the energy transition, and we recognise a growing customer need to gain access to and insight in our energy system data. This is why we aim to enhance the transparency of our assets and network.

The map is accessible via links on Powerco’s commercial and industrial electricity and EV charging infrastructure webpages.

Powerco is one of the first electricity distribution businesses (EDBs) in New Zealand to publish capacity data online. This demand capacity map complements the distributed generation capacity map launched last year. 

“By sharing this type of data and information, we can help our customers to understand opportunities or limitations very early on in their awareness and decision-making process. In turn, their network insights and understanding will serve as a perfect springboard for conversations about potential network and non-network energy solutions for our customers.”

Whether planning a greenfield development, expanding existing operations or looking to connect public electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers to Powerco’s high-voltage network, the demand capacity map will give the preliminary data to help them plan investments in communities across Powerco’s electricity network footprint.

“With this map, we aim to provide an improved customer experience and create efficiencies – to enable a sustainable energy transition that supports connecting developments to electricity network wherever possible,” Stuart Dickson says.

The sharing of HV data is just the start for Powerco, Stuart Dickson says.

“In the future, we plan to provide more granular capacity data, such as variable or time-based capacity and forecasted capacity, and potentially also forecasted congestion. Additionally, providing information about network planning, capital contribution and pricing models or tools will enable the customer to make time/price/service trade-offs.”