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Power Firms Reject Pylon Alternatives

Posted on: Sunday, 7 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

NEW ZEALAND's biggest electricity companies are calling for the controversial North Island $500 million pylon proposal to get the go- ahead, saying alternatives cannot provide the same level of security of supply.

In submissions to the regulator, the Electricity Commission, Contact Energy, Mighty River Power, Vector and Genesis Power argue new power plants near Auckland will at best delay the need for a big new 400-kilovolt line for a short time only.

Transpower has put forward the 400kv line as a 40-year solution to transporting more power to Auckland, where demand for electricity is growing at about 4 per cent a year.

It says the new line is needed by 2010 to ensure security of supply at peak times -- in winter from 5pm to 7pm.

Genesis Power says its Rodney gas-fired power plant, one of several proposals it is investigating, is not an alternative to the new transmission line proposed to run from Taupo to Auckland through about 600 properties in Waikato and South Auckland.

Genesis says it cannot provide certainty that the Rodney plant would be in place in time, as it still has to apply for resource consents, and arrange fuel supply, and bank funding to build it.

Chief executive Murray Jackson stressed how critical the transmission upgrade was, and suggested "it be proceeded with in all possible haste".

Mighty River, another state power company, said: "We do not think it likely there would be much scope for transmission alternatives for the Auckland-Northland regions, particularly taking into account service reliability and security factors."

Any alternative would at best result in short-term delay to the need for the new transmission line, but would not be a substitute for it.

Mighty River is seeking resource consent for a 320-megawatt coal- fired power station at Marsden, but said in its submission it could not guarantee it would be available in time to defer the transmission line.

Contact Energy says a proposed 400MW gas-fired power station at Otahuhu could not be considered an alternative to a transmission upgrade because it was not as reliable as a transmission line.

A power station was taken out of service for regular maintenance and could face outages.

Nevertheless, Otahuhu C could enhance security of supply into Auckland. Contact was planning to have it in operation between 2009 and 2011, but had not secured a long term gas supply for it.

Auckland electricity network company Vector said the commission should sort out the investment process and security standards for the grid first, one of its key regulatory roles, before considering the complex area of transmission alternatives.

These would need to be centrally funded and coordinated, and add another regulatory layer.

Vector supported a transmission upgrade, but acknowledged the commission would want to consider short term security measures such as a new power plant near Auckland that would enable the existing transmission line to be taken out of service and upgraded to a higher capacity.

Transpower is proposing to build a new line on part of the route of the existing line.

Vector said the Government's policy statement hardly mentioned transmission alternatives and even then referred to the difficulty of implementing them.

Source: Dominion Post

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