Control centre operations and training under deregulation: a New Zealand example

This paper presents an overview of the control centre operation environment after deregulation in New Zealand. New Zealand is one of leading countries that has deregulated the power industry. As a result, the transmission network operation has become more integrated with market operation. The industry has moved from a centralised planning model to a market based optimization model. The control centre operational environment has subsequently changed to cater for far more frequent changes to industry participants requirements and needs. This has created less certainty as was in the past. The roles of the control centre personnel have changed as well. There is more focus on risk analysis, real time operational planning and real-time power system security. A brief review of the change process followed by some valid opinion of the control centre personnel are also discussed in this paper