Energy experts doubt New Zealand will ever get to 100 percent renewable, and say incentives and rewards are the answer to bridging the gap

Ordinary householders turned off the power last week and saved the country from cuts on the coldest day of the year so far. But there's no recognition or reward for that

When householders and businesses pulled the country back from the brink of painful power cuts on the coldest day of the year, there was no reward for the sacrifices they made in turning off their heat pumps and lights.

Consumers saved the day and switched off about 260 megawatts of power last Friday when Transpower revealed the country faced a potential electricity shortfall due to the unseasonal cold snap, low wind generation and planned outages of several power stations.

They were the "real unsung heroes", says SolarZero chief executive Matt Ward. In another country they would have been paid for reducing their own power but New Zealand does not have the regulations or mechanisms for incentives, he says.

"That's one of the things we're advocating for; is the market mechanisms and the regulations to be put in place," he says.

Such systems are widely used around the world, including in the UK during the energy crisis caused by the Ukraine war, when a demand response system was set up so that consumers were paid if they turned off their heat pumps, he says.

Ward's SolarZero and its customers helped "keep the lights on" in New Zealand on Friday by providing 30MW of energy into the grid, equivalent to 100,000 hot water systems.

He explains to The Detail how the company's 'virtual power plant' worked on the day, by exporting energy into the national grid from its network of 15,000 residential customers whose homes are powered by solar panels and batteries. They continued to keep their heaters and lights on while feeding their extra power into the grid.

He says it is an example of the new technology that could do more towards a resilient power supply, but it needs the right support from updated market mechanisms.

As the country transitions away from fossil fuels towards 100 percent renewable electricity, Ward says much of the focus has been on building generation. But the biggest challenge for New Zealand is the transmission and distribution of electricity.

"You can't just build your way out of it, you can't have so much resilience in the system because ultimately the consumers will pay for it and they can't afford to pay for it. …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details