WEL Networks explained

WEL Networks
Location City:Hamilton, New Zealand
Key People:Garth Dibley, CEO (since Sep 2014)[1]
Industry:Electricity distribution
Owner:WEL Energy Trust

WEL Networks Limited is an electricity distribution company, serving the northern and central Waikato region of New Zealand.[2] WEL is the sixth largest electricity distribution company in New Zealand, with 100,142 connections and 7021km (4,363miles) of lines and underground cables. The company is 100% owned by the WEL Energy Trust.[3]

History

WEL was formed when legislation in 1988 amalgamated the Central Waikato Electric Power Board with Hamilton City Council's Electricity Division from 1989 to form Waikato Electricity Limited. After amalgamation, ownership of WEL was vested in the Waikato Electricity Authority (WEA). WEA formed WEL Energy Trust in 1993, with the first election in June, so that the community could have some ownership of WEL. In 1992 a third of WEL was sold to Utilicorp for almost $40m, a third retained for the Trust and a third given to customers. The Electricity Industry Reform Act 1998 forced WEL to sell its retail business. It sold to the State owned (but later bought as NGC by Vector Limited) Natural Gas Corporation for $89.9m. The Trust then bought back all WEL's shares to become its sole owner. In 2001 WEL was renamed WEL Networks Ltd.

After the Trust's 2003 elections it reduced grants given to community groups and started paying discounts to customers.[4] By 2014 the Trust had paid over $240 million to customers in discounts, but had also invested over $60 million in community and energy efficiency grants. In 2014–15, over $2m was paid in grants.[5]

WEL Networks formed a joint venture in 2010 with Waipā Networks and Crown Fibre Holdings to establish Ultra-fast Fibre Limited, a company that owns and operates the fibre network in Hamilton, New Plymouth, Tauranga, and Whanganui.[6] In 2016, WEL and Waipā Networks paid $189 million to take 100% control of the Ultra-Fast Fibre company.[7] In 2020, WEL and Waipā Networks sold their interest in Ultra-fast Fibre to Japanese-owned First State Investments for $854 million.[8]

In 2022, the company announced the construction of New Zealand's first utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS), to be located at Huntly. The system is rated at 35 MW, and is capable of storing energy equivalent to the daily demand of over 2000 homes.[9]

Distribution network

WEL's distribution area covers the Hamilton City and the majority of the Waikato District, including the towns of Ngāruawāhia, Huntly, Te Kauwhata and Raglan. The distribution network is supplied from the national grid at three grid exit points (GXPs): Hamilton (Ruakura Road), Te Kowhai, and Huntly. WEL Networks uses 33,000 volts for subtransmission and 11,000 volts for distribution.[10] As is standard in New Zealand, electricity is delivered to homes at 230/400 volts (phase-to-neutral/phase-to-phase).

Statistics

WEL Networks - statistics as at 31 March 2021[11]
Parameter Value
Distribution and LV overhead lines 2,895 km
Distribution and LV underground cables 2,182 km
Subtransmission lines and cables 446 km
Customer connections 95,226
System maximum demand 280 MW
System energy delivered 1,283 GWh
SAIDI (average outage duration) 86 min
SAIFI (average outage frequency) 1.03 p.a.

Regulation

As a natural monopoly electricity lines business, WEL Networks is subject to regulation under the Commerce Act 1986. However, as WEL Networks is 100% owned by a consumer trust, it is not subject to price-quality regulation,[12] but is subject to Information Disclosure regulation. The Commerce Commission publishes a wide range of Information Disclosure data provided by WEL Networks, and prepares analysis and summaries of that data.[13]

Generation assets

Te Uku Wind Farm

See main article: Te Uku Wind Farm. Te Uku Wind Farm is located at Te Uku near Raglan. It has a capacity of 64 MW[14] [15] using 28 wind turbines. Construction was completed in March 2011,[16] at a cost of $200 million.[17] The farm covers an area of approximately 200ha.[18] The wind farm is jointly owned by WEL Networks and Meridian Energy.[19]

Resource consent was granted in May 2008[20] and appeals were resolved by November 2008. Construction of the wind farm began in 2010.[21] Hick Bros Civil and Spartan Construction won an award for outstanding technical and environmental planning.[22] The wind farm was officially opened by Prime Minister John Key in February 2011.[23] Te Uku was fully operational on 10 March 2011.[24]

Te Uku Windfarm is controlled from Wellington where Meridian has its control centre for running all of their New Zealand Hydro and Wind generation assets.

The windfarm is linked to the national grid at Te Kowhai substation by about 17km (11miles) of 33 kV lines on 159[25] steel poles built on concrete pile foundations[26] and an underground cable from just west of Waitetuna Valley Rd to Cogswell Rd,[27] a total of about 25km (16miles).[28] [29] [30]

Incidents

On a particularly cold winter night in August 2021, the National Grid operator Transpower, gave an emergency instruction to WEL Networks to reduce its demand from the grid by 20%. This resulted in power cuts for around 18,000 WEL Networks customers. The demand restrictions required of WEL Networks were significantly greater than for other networks.[31] Transpower subsequently admitted an error in their calculation of the required demand reduction. WEL Networks estimated that they would only have been required to disconnect 1,373 customers (instead of almost 18,000), if the error had not been made.[32] Transpower and was eventually fined $150,000 for their part in contributing to the loss of supply to customers.[33]

Subsidiaries

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Double leadership change for WEL Networks. Stuff. 9 June 2014. 17 May 2023. 3 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231103063240/https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10136777/Double-leadership-change-for-WEL-Networks. live.
  2. Web site: About WEL. WEL Networks. 20 August 2011. 24 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724195355/http://www.wel.co.nz/index.asp?pageID=2145841542. live.
  3. Web site: 27 June 2023 . Annual Report of WEL Group . 3 November 2023 . 16 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230716224431/https://www.wel.co.nz/media/ko3idlmh/wel-group-annual-report-2023-web.pdf . live .
  4. Book: Chris, Gilson. Wiring up the Waikato. WEL Networks.
  5. Web site: WEL Energy Trust - About the Trust. www.welenergytrust.co.nz. 2015-10-26. 7 November 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151107190322/http://www.welenergytrust.co.nz/about_the_trust.cfm. live.
  6. Web site: Who builds the UFB network. Crown Infrastructure Partners. 8 April 2021. 10 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210510180825/https://www.crowninfrastructure.govt.nz/ufb/who/. live.
  7. News: Waikato Networks buys out Crown's holding in Ultra-fast Fibre for $189m. NBR. 7 September 2016. Sophie. Boot. 8 April 2021. 26 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200526023304/https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/waikato-networks-buys-out-crowns-holding-ultrafast-fibre-189m-b-193981. live.
  8. Web site: WEL, Waipa sell fibre business to overseas investor for $854m. 12 May 2020. The Herald. Gavin. Evans. 8 April 2021. 22 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230122044741/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/wel-waipa-sell-fibre-business-to-overseas-investor-for-854m/MN6JPBV6AGRWXFD3YOQN6APNNE/. live.
  9. Web site: 30 March 2022 . Electrifying: Huntly receives battery energy storage system . 2023-05-17 . NZ Herald . en-NZ . 17 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230517084205/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/waikato-news/news/huntly-receives-the-countrys-first-utility-scale-battery-energy-storage-system/WEUMC4QWLVPA6APTF4TNJQWEX4/ . live .
  10. Web site: Asset Management Plan 2023. WEL Networks. 28 March 2023. 17 May 2023. 3 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231103063157/https://www.wel.co.nz/media/etafw1tf/11111136-amp-web-version.pdf. live.
  11. Web site: Performance summaries for electricity distributors - Year to 31 March 2021 - WEL Networks . . 17 May 2023.
  12. Web site: Consumer owned electricity distribution businesses . . 18 May 2023 . 6 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221006225813/https://comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/electricity-lines/our-role-in-electricity-lines/consumer-owned-electricity-distribution-businesses . live .
  13. Web site: Performance summaries for electricity distributors . . 18 May 2023 . 7 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230207204244/https://comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/electricity-lines/electricity-distributor-performance-and-data/performance-summaries-for-electricity-distributors . live .
  14. Web site: Project Te Uku. Meridian Energy. https://web.archive.org/web/20150114111042/https://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/about-us/te-uku/. 14 January 2015. dead. 17 May 2023.
  15. Web site: Introduction and fact sheet. WEL Networks. https://web.archive.org/web/20111005050948/http://www.wel.co.nz/index.asp?pageID=2145861987. 5 October 2011. dead. 2008-09-23.
  16. Gala Day Celebrates Completion Of Te Uku Wind Farm. Meridian Energy. 23 March 2011. 17 May 2023. 5 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010357/http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/gala-day-celebrates-completion-te-uku-wind-farm/5/86126. live.
  17. News: Meridian Energy to build 64 megawatt Raglan wind farm. Grant. Bradley. 16 October 2009. NZ Herald. 17 May 2023. 10 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180410181022/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10603435. live.
  18. Web site: WEL wind park resource consent application . WEL Networks Ltd . https://web.archive.org/web/20111005050902/http://www.wel.co.nz/files/Wind%20Generation/2.WDC%20applicationProjectDescription.pdf . 5 October 2011 . 2008-09-21 . live .
  19. Web site: Wind Park Update . WEL Networks Ltd . 2008-09-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111005051003/http://www.wel.co.nz/files/Wind%20Generation/WindParkUpdateSept08finalcopy.pdf . 5 October 2011 . dead . 2008-09-23 .
  20. Web site: Wind farm bid a winner. Waikato Times. 2008-05-30. Mercury Energy. https://web.archive.org/web/20110106151801/http://www.mercury.co.nz/News/news_story.aspx?id=963. 6 January 2011. dead. 2008-09-21.
  21. First turbine goes up at Te Uku wind farm. 3 November 2010. Meridian Energy. 5 November 2010. 11 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110211044955/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1011/S00106/first-turbine-goes-up-at-te-uku-wind-farm.htm. live.
  22. Web site: Hick Bros & Spartan pick up prize for building Te Uku Wind Farm. Raglan 23. https://web.archive.org/web/20130222104522/http://www.raglan23.co.nz/2011/hick-bros-spartan-pick-up-prize-for-building-te-uku-win/. 22 February 2013. dead. 14 December 2014.
  23. News: PM blown away by wind farm. 10 February 2011. Bruce. Holloway. Stuff. 13 February 2011. 13 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110213040546/http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/4641295/PM-blown-away-by-wind-farm. live.
  24. Construction of Te Uku wind farm complete . Meridian Energy . 31 March 2011 . 3 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110405003524/http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/about-us/news/media-releases/2011/construction-of-te-uku-wind-farm-complete/ . 2011-04-05.
  25. Web site: Raglan Chronicle. Issuu. 2015-12-09. 30 July 2010. 20 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160320222158/https://issuu.com/raglanchronicle/docs/july29/6#download. live.
  26. Web site: Wind Farm Electricity Generation: Edison. www.edison.co.nz. https://web.archive.org/web/20130208112659/http://www.edison.co.nz/wind/id/152. 8 February 2013. dead. 2015-12-09.
  27. Web site: WEL Networks western upgrade. Raglan 23. https://web.archive.org/web/20130213145113/http://www.raglan23.co.nz/2010/wel-networks-western-upgrade/. 13 February 2013. dead. 2015-12-09.
  28. Web site: John key opens Te Uku Wind Farm. Raglan 23. https://web.archive.org/web/20130222131604/http://www.raglan23.co.nz/2011/john-key-opens-te-uku-wind-farm/. 22 February 2013. dead. 2015-12-09.
  29. News: Raglan wind farm wins top award. 19 August 2011. Waikato Times. 19 August 2011. 25 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121025170339/http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/5472819/Raglan-wind-farm-wins-top-award. live.
  30. News: Wel's windfarm critic has plenty of hits at hearing. 29 February 2008. Waikato Times. 19 August 2011. 25 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121025170146/http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/293249. live.
  31. Web site: Feek . Belinda . 12 August 2021 . Power outages: 'Transpower asked us to reduce load by 20 per cent', WEL Networks speaks out . 17 May 2023 . . en-NZ . 17 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230517075858/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/power-outages-transpower-asked-us-to-reduce-load-by-20-per-cent-wel-networks-speaks-out/YQZZLUAS3BQUPQJ7MDWPWH6ZA4/ . live .
  32. Web site: Pullar-Strecker . Tom . 2021-08-11 . Heat goes on Transpower after Wel Networks reveals grid operator made huge error . 2023-05-17 . Stuff . en . 27 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220427013809/https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126037235/heat-goes-on-transpower-after-wel-networks-reveals-grid-operator-made-huge-error . live .
  33. Web site: 8 May 2023 . Transpower fined $150,000 for 2021 mid-winter blackouts . 17 May 2023 . . en-nz . 8 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230508041439/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/489503/transpower-fined-150-000-for-2021-mid-winter-blackouts . live .
  34. Web site: WEL Networks purchases Infratec. 24 November 2020. NZX. 8 April 2021.

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