High electricity prices likely.

[chanceyy]

awww yur a gem...Ide be alright if the copper was still functional

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh blardy hell chick

[Jantar]

"The Domestic Energy Users' Network says the wholesale price for electricity has risen from 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour on the first of December to 23 cents per kilowatt hour two days ago."

Not so bad in the summer, but that's gonna be a bit of a bastard come winter time. Wonder why the huge jump?

And between 18 and 32 c/kwh today. Just be glad this is the wholesale price and not truely reflected in the retail price.

The reason is really quite simple. Since the end of winter the whole world has been plunged into a La-Nina weather pattern. Its the steepest drop in the SOI since 1955, and completely counters the expectations from Global warming. The effect on our hydrology is for a drier than normal period, and at present inflows are around half of normal. Meridian is holding back water in its storage lakes, Mighty River doesn't have much water to realease anyway and Contact is releasing around a third of the rated Hawea maximum in readiness for next winter.

Otahuhu combined cycle station, 2 Huntly units and 3 Manapouri generators are all out for maintenence and this reduction is being made up from more expensive generation.

[chanceyy]

Otahuhu combined cycle station, 2 Huntly units and 3 Manapouri generators are all out for maintenence and this reduction is being made up from more expensive generation.

how many poles are out over cook straight .. is it 1, 2 or more ??

[Jantar]

how many poles are out over cook straight .. is it 1, 2 or more ??

There are only 2 poles. Pole 1, the old mercury arc valve pole, is only available in north transfer, Pole 2 is available for both north and south transfer. there are 3 cables available across the straight, but only 2 are needed, one for each pole.

[piston broke]

why hasn't the kaipara harbour been tapped?
why don't they put solar panels under the wind turbines,(the infrastructure to send it out is already there).

[Ocean1]

There are only 2 poles. Pole 1, the old mercury arc valve pole, is only available in north transfer, Pole 2 is available for both north and south transfer. there are 3 cables available across the straight, but only 2 are needed, one for each pole.

What's the "POLE 3" project currently under construction at Haywards, any idea?

[Jantar]

What's the "POLE 3" project currently under construction at Haywards, any idea?

Pole 3 will replace the current Pole 1. It was planned in 1990 to be completed in around 2000. Max Bradford's electricty reforms canned it, and now it is desperately needed.

[Coldrider]

It is all smoke and mirrors, cost to generate hydro per kw old money, 0.5 to 1.5 cent per kwh.
Cost to generate kw from coal /gas new money, 25 cents per kwh.
Hence any new investment in generation needs to equal new money in investment and new money in cost, hence 25 cents in cost per kwh to play.

[Jantar]

why hasn't the kaipara harbour been tapped?
why don't they put solar panels under the wind turbines,(the infrastructure to send it out is already there).

Maybe someday, when the technology exists, and it is economical to do so, and resource consents are earsier to get, and ToW issues are fully sorted, then maybe it will happen. But the biggest hurdle will be the technology.

[Coldrider]

Are the wholesale prices not actually the spot prices?

[Jantar]

Are the wholesale prices not actually the spot prices?

Yes they are.

[LBD]

I started an NPV on a project I had in mind....converting our Mill and workshops to a waste oil fired heating system....Why?...because we generate 2.5 million liters of waste oil annually so it is free.....Then I call up the bean counters to get the cost of electricity....thinking I am about to save the company $zillions.

3.94 US cents per kWh!

Maybe we keep giving the waste oil to the villages....

[tri boy]

The only diesel back-up units on the National Grid are those at Whirinaki. Since our company has the operations and maintenence contract for them and we offer them into the market from our trading room, i am suprised to learn this for the first time on here. Where is the basis for this information?

Havn't got all the details, and only heard it on the radio, but apparently they are being sold. But in the contract, they have to stay available for a minimum of two years, then the new owners can ship them overseas etc.
Correct me if I'm wrong please.

[Jantar]

Havn't got all the details, and only heard it on the radio, but apparently they are being sold. But in the contract, they have to stay available for a minimum of two years, then the new owners can ship them overseas etc.
Correct me if I'm wrong please.

They were to be sold to Meridian, but Meridian didn't want them, preffering to stay entirely with renewable energy. Contact owns the land that they are on, and holds the resource consent. The crown has decided to offer them for sale by tender, but should they sell then they must be available for both the next two winters either from the present site, or from another site. They may leave the country, but it is highly unlikely that any buyer would relocate them for one year then move them overseas after that.

The most likely buyers are Contact (we already own the site and hold the resource consents), Genisis to relocate to Huntly where they already have resource consents and can change them to gas fired, or Mighty River to relocate them to Southdown where they already have resource consents and can change them to gas fired.

[Juzz976]

why hasn't the kaipara harbour been tapped?
why don't they put solar panels under the wind turbines,(the infrastructure to send it out is already there).

When you shade a photovoltaic cell even just a small portion of it you loose almost all its power output.