While we wait for the reason for a power pylon toppling over in Glorit, Kaipara Hills to be determined, there's no question that a mains grid with such a single point of failure affecting such a large geographical area is unacceptable.
On Thursday, the 220 kilovolt pylon fell over, leaving most of Northland without electricity supply for hours. Grid operator Transpower said Friday power has been restored to most customers in Northland, but as the supply is via a 110 kV line and local generation like Ngāwhā, customers north of Warkworth are asked to go easy on their electricity use during the peak hours of 6 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 9 pm.
That means using large appliances sparingly, only charging electric vehicles as needed, and turning off heating and lights in unused rooms.
There's no doubt the power outage is a kick in the guts Northland did not need, particularly after the closure of State Highway 1 over the Brynderwyns, and further up north, through Mangamuka Gorge.
For people living in the region, it was a long wait for basic services such as traffic lights to come back on, fuel pumps to work, and the hope their freezers wouldn't defrost and the contents spoil - again, as happened during the long outages following Cyclone Gabrielle.
Now, lobby group Sustainable Energy Association of New Zealand (SEANZ) is suggesting the government prioritises energy resilience, with batteries for energy storage at grid scale.
Energy resilience through batteries is not a new idea, with South Australia installing the Hornsdale Power Reserve in 2017, now upgraded to 150 megawatt/193.5 MWh, and the enormous Victorian Big Battery in Geelong, which supplies 300 MW/450 MWh.
WEL Networks this year commissioned a 35 MWh battery near the Huntly power station, which can supply the daily demand of 2000 homes. Meridian's Ruakākā battery should come online in December this year, with 100 MW/200 MWh, with a 120 MW solar power array near Marsden Point.
SEANZ represents mainly smaller players in the energy sector with companies that focus on solar generation, and the organisation said the government can introduce reward-flexibility pricing, allowing for homes and businesses to be reimbursed for their ability to support the grid.
This would include EVs, small and large scale solar and batteries, plus other energy systems being able to alter their behaviour to sell energy to the grid when needed, when supply falters.
Financing options for homes and businesses could also be implemented, SEANZ suggested.
Even if times are tough economically, losing power catastrophically as happened yesterday is costing everyone. If adding battery backup to the grid is workable technically, and doable fast, now might be a good time to get cracking with it.
A recent report by Bloomberg suggests Chinese battery makers are producing several times the marketable capacity needed in the world. They might just be open to deals to clear inventory.
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