Technical Regulation
Power
System Monitoring
Under
section 45 of the Electricity Reform Act, the Commission
is required to undertake an annual review of, and report
to the Minister on, the prospective trends in the
capacity and reliability of the Territory's power
system.
System
Control Technical Code
Section 38 of the Electricity
Reform Act requires the power system controller to prepare a System Control
Technical Code and submit it for approval to the Commission. This code sets out
the controller’s competitively neutral operating protocols, arrangements for
system security and system dispatch, as well as arrangements for the
interruption of supply.
Network Technical Code
Clause 9(2) of the Code
requires Power and Water to prepare and make publicly available a network
technical code and network planning criteria. Such a code (and associated
criteria) was finalised during 2000.
Energy Loss Factors
Compliance Review
In June 2003, the Commission decided to
undertake a review of Power and Water's compliance with Schedule 13 of the
Network Access Code. This followed concerns raised by NT Power regarding the
energy loss factors applying while it operated in the NT's contestable market.
Given the technical nature of many of the issues, the Commission engaged
technical advisers for the purpose of this review.
The Commission has now released
its final findings. A summary of the key findings can be found below. However,
due to the commercial-in-confidence nature of information provided, full
findings will remain confidential to the parties concerned.
Energy Loss Factors Code
A key finding of the Energy
Loss Factors Compliance Review was the need to develop alternative provisions
to Schedule 13 of the Network Access Code, that clearly set out the required
outcomes to be met by the methodology used by the network provider in future
to calculate energy losses in the NT context.
To this end, the Commission has made an Energy
Loss Factors Code. This Code sets out the
high-level principles underlying the calculation of energy loss factors. Any
number of methodologies and approaches could be consistent with these principles
and the Code thus allows the network provider to choose from among them in a way
that makes most sense in the circumstances.
In July 2006, Power and
Water submitted its proposed calculation methodology for
determining energy loss factors for the financial year
commencing 1 July 2006 and each year thereafter.
The Commission has
approved the draft methodology pursuant to clause 4(1)
of the Code, on the basis that the Commission has no
information before it to indicate that the Methodology
does not comply with the principles set out in the
Schedule 1 of the Code.
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