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Rewiring Aotearoa has long argued that there were arbitrary restrictions on the amount of power those with rooftop solar could export to the grid and that was leading to smaller systems and savings - and higher electricity prices for everyone else. We said we'd be keeping an eye on the networks to ensure they followed the Government's recommendations so it's pleasing to see Aurora double its export limit for households from 5kw to 10kw.
Aurora Energy is one of the first electricity distribution businesses in Aotearoa New Zealand to increase the limit on how much solar power households can export back to the grid.
The change is a response to strong customer growth across the Otago network and follows the Government’s plans to expand the voltage range from +/- 6 percent to +/- 10 percent.
Aurora Energy’s recent smart meter data trial, along with mandated inverter voltage control, gives confidence that the export limit can be raised ahead of the Government’s increase in voltage limits.
It means that from 1 August 2025, Aurora Energy will raise its limit to allow Single Phase Domestic Connections to export up to 10 kW of electricity. The current limit on the network is 5 kW.
Chief Executive Richard Fletcher says the change represents the lines company’s move towards a smart and future-ready network that encourages greater adoption of renewable energy while still maintaining grid safety and stability.
Increasing the export limit can make the value proposition for investing in solar and battery technology more appealing to homeowners, by enabling excess domestically generated power to be exported into the network, thereby generating income.
“This change is one of the examples of Aurora Energy leading the way in enabling smarter, more sustainable energy solutions,” Mr Fletcher says.
“By increasing solar export limits, we’re not just responding to customer demand, but showing how electricity distribution businesses can support the transition to renewable energy.”
Technical details
Financial commentator Frances Cook uses her own story to show that that an investment in solar and an EV significantly outperforms the stock market and fellow number cruncher Nadine Higgins says that if you do it right, EVs are cheaper to run and own; EV sales have climbed to their highest level since 2022 and are closing in on 2023's numbers and Go Rentals has just invested $2.3 million in some new Tesla Model Y Premiums; the gap between energy costs of diesel vans and utes and electric vans and utes is absolutely massive; solar is also going off right now, with one installer in Otago 448% above their sales target in March; Lightforce has gone back to the Barretts with a new TV ad; Wellington mayor Andrew Little explains its electrification strategy and Hutt City Council shares data showing how its fleet has gone from dirty Toyotas to cleaner EVs; Shenzen in China has electrified its public transport and taxis and that's come with big benefits - and some challenges; and a very simple illustration of the LNG terminal.
Read moreDownloadAs Minister of energy, climate and local government, Simon Watts had a great opportunity to push the country towards cheaper, cleaner and more reliable New Zealand-made energy. And that’s why we laid down a challenge and gave him the ‘MegaWatts’ moniker last year. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey says he did some good things, like enabling more solar on farms, removing tax on solar exports, fixing onerous solar consenting requirements, putting pressure on the lines companies to pull up their socks, and getting the ball rolling on the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme. "But the LNG import terminal appears to have been a defining issue."
Read moreDownloadAfter ‘crunching the numbers’ and adding in new sources of ‘New Zealand-made energy’ to our equations, CEO Mike Casey has announced that Rewiring Aotearoa will be changing its name to Refuelling Aotearoa. There has been a huge amount of independently verified research showing electrification beats fossil fuels on economics, efficiency, emissions and energy security and that there is a huge opportunity for New Zealand to electrify, but the discovery of an infinite supply of snake oil in New Zealand has changed everything, he says.
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