Power fears abate as hydro lakes levels return to normal

HYDRO lake storage levels are almost back to normal, after the long dry summer slashed the amount of water flowing into the lakes earlier in the year.

Inflow levels fell to abnormally low levels in mid-March, raising fears storage could fall toward 1992 drought levels.

Inflow levels remained lower than usual from early February until late May, but rose above average about the start of June and have remained high since then, Niwa figures show.

On Friday, lake storage levels were at 94 per cent of the average for the time of year.

The risk of a hydro-electricity shortage in the next two months was less than 1 per cent, and hydro lake levels looked fine, Transpower general manager for people and corporate Cynthia Brophy said.

According to Transpower, the most important lakes for hydro power are Tekapo, Pukaki, Hawea, Manapouri, Te Anau and Taupo.

Schemes at Pukaki, Manapouri and Te Anau are operated by Meridian Energy, where spokeswoman Janet Wright said there were no concerns at the moment.

All the company’s storage lakes were a little below average for the time of year, but better than levels of a year ago.

Big inflows were expected in coming days for Manapouri and Te Anau, as heavy rainfall was forecast for Fiordland.

Contact Energy, which uses water from Lake Hawea to generate electricity, said the lake was below the long-term average for

relations the time of year but also above the 2012 level.

‘‘We’re comfortable with that,’’ spokesman Shaun Jones said.

That was particularly as lakes Wanaka and Whakatipu, which provided most of the water for the Clutha scheme, were above mean levels.

Genesis Energy, which uses water from Lake Tekapo to generate electricity, said the lake was at 66 per cent of capacity, which was 110 per cent of average for the year.

Mighty River Power, which has hydro schemes on Waikato River, said Lake Taupo had dropped to low levels during the drought but the company’s hydro storage levels were up to 79 per cent of average, from 33 per cent at the end of March.