Covid19 changed NZ’s energy consumption

AUCKLAND: Covid19 has affected New Zealand’s energy consumption, which is yet to return to business as usual.

National grid operator Transpower said it was sharing its data and experiences with its international counterparts, as the pandemic changed energy use and consumption patterns around the world.

Transpower operations manager Stephen Jay said the most valuable lesson learnt from the experience was the way the industry pulled together to manage through the crisis.

‘‘The security of providing [uninterrupted service] through lockdown was challenged in terms of the expertise, the capability, the logistics of repair and enhancement, and you need to get [these] done to secure the energy supply,’’ he said.

‘‘We did a lot of collaboration across the industry to make sure that we were sharing information, and there were no surprises in terms of how we were reacting.’’

The changes were not just because almost everyone was locked down in their homes when the country entered Alert Level 4 on March 25 but because most businesses and industries had to shut down for more than a month during that initial period.

Most regions had usage drops of between 15% and 20% during Level 4, Napier experiencing the biggest drop because of the shutdown of Pan Pac Forest Products, while Invercargill had the lowest drop of any region as the Tiwai aluminium smelter continued to operate throughout the crisis.

Not surprisingly, the fall in Level 4 demand resulted in New Zealand’s renewable energy supply reaching its highest level in modern history at 91%, compared with 88% preCovid.

Aucklandbased lines company Vector said there had been a material change in the region’s power usage during Alert Level 4.

‘‘[The] impact of Covid19 . . . resulted in lower electricity network volumes and therefore revenue, driven by a significant drop in commercial sector consumption as well as an impact on the wider business,’’ the annual report said, adding the pandemic hit the group’s underlying profit by about $10 million.

‘‘With restrictions in place under Covid19 Alert Levels 3 and 4, electricity volumes across our network decreased by approximately 10%, leading to a fall in revenue for the period.’’

The company said residential use had returned to near normal levels, just before the most recent community Covid outbreak in August, but commercial use had yet to return to previous levels.

At the start of Alert Level 4, volume across Vector’s electricity network fell 15% on the previous threeyear average, while gas use dropped 22%.

For the first time, Auckland’s weekday commercial loads across both gas and electricity networks resembled those of a typical weekend.

Residential consumption at Level 4 rose about 13%, as people worked or studied from home.

But once the country entered Level 1, residential trends largely returned to normal. — RNZ