Manapōuri Power Station on the western arm of Lake Manapōuri in New Zealand. Photo: 123rf
Meridian Energy said the weekend rainfall has given a "lift" to the hydro lakes after a dry start to the new year, but more rain is needed to support power demands over the winter.
Hydro lakes are currently a little over 80 percent of the historical average, and meanwhile drought has been declared in the Northland, Waikato, Horizons, Marlborough-Tasman, and Taranaki regions.
Meridian Energy's general manager of wholesale Chris Ewers told Morning Report that a "good front" over the weekend has brought about 300 millimetres of rain, and wind.
"It firstly gives you inflows into the lakes, but it also brings with it a lot of wind, and that wind generation helps you back off your hydro generation, and allows you to store that as water as well," he said.
"It buys you a few weeks, probably three weeks, what we got out of that event, but we're still in need of having a bit more rain over the next two to three months to support us through the winter," he added.
When asked what the current low hydro storage situation means for consumers, Ewers said whilst the prices are high at the moment, retail companies take a longer term view on price and fix the price over the long term.
"In terms of pricing, that doesn't change and it's not affected, well over 99.9 percent of customers are on the fixed plans," he said.
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