The Authority has released an update of the Hydrological Modelling Dataset (HMD) that includes data to the end of 2020. This release is a full update of the dataset revisiting the historical records and correlations. As 2021 has reminded us, an appreciation of the significance of hydro generation and the inherent variability of hydro inflows is fundamental to understanding the electricity market, managing security of supply, and planning the New Zealand Electricity system. The HMD provides detailed information that supports the efficient operation of the market, monitoring and policy development, and planning as NZ transitions to a 100% renewable system that delivers for consumers.
The HMD includes the following datasets:
- Infrastructure and hydro constraint attributes (including access to contingent storage)
- Flows (including inflows, outflows, tributary flows, and flows at a junction or point)
- Storage and spill information
This release includes the following enhancements:
- Historical spill data is now available at daily resolution aligning it with information in other datasets
- A flow series for the natural Lake Onslow inflows has been added to support any modelling of potential schemes
More information is available in the reports included with the HMD. Users of the dataset are encouraged to post feedback - especially if they believe there is an error or something has been missed in the infrastructure and hydro constraints file.
The Authority appreciates the ongoing cooperation of the hydro generators and other data providers in compiling and publishing this dataset.
