In this issue:

• Spot Market Commentary
• Spot Market Prices
• Hydro Storage

SPOT MARKET COMMENTARY

Spot market prices for the month of May averaged $49.47/MWh at Haywards. Overall New Zealand storage fell 15% to 77% of maximum capacity. The month saw settled spot pricing, with no time periods in excess of $200/MWh, and only 16 in excess of $100/MWh.

Southern hydro lake levels remain healthy, at 128% of average, although levels have fallen back by 18% during the month as the April inflows were so heavy.  In the North Island, a recovery of sorts has occurred later in the month, with the lake level at Taupo rising from a low of 6% full to a respectable 20% full, although this is less than half its average level for the period.

Whilst the DC outage continues to cause some intermittent spikes in North Island pricing due to supply constraints in peak periods, it is important to note the impact that both Geothermal and Wind generation is having in offsetting the North Island hydro shortages.  For the month of May, Geothermal generation averaged 622MW (up from 517MW for the same period in 2009 and 397MW in 2008), and Wind averaged 91MW (up from 71MW and 35MW respectively).

Spot Market Prices

The Spot Market averaged $49.47 at Haywards for May 2010, a decrease from $81.02 for April 2010. Half-hour spot prices at Haywards were very settled this month, with a high of $150.36 (TP37, on 16/5), and a low of $0.01 (TP7, 8, 9 & 10, on 03/05).

Spot Price Statistics

Average Daily Prices

Average Half Hour Prices

HYDRO STORAGE

Inflows for May for New Zealand were above average for 10 days of the month.  Overall South Island storage fell 20% to 89% of maximum capacity, whilst North Island storage rose 6% to 25% of maximum capacity.

The overall NZ level dropped from 92% to 77% of maximum capacity.

The NZ storage level currently sits above the EC Operational Minzone, and the average storage level: