Under the plan, power would be bought from one country at a cheaper rate and then sold to the other. Photo: AFP
A deep sea power cable hopes to bring cheaper electricity to both New Zealand and Australia.
Taslink is developing a 2600km power cable to run below the Tasman Sea, enabling both countries to trade surplus electricity.
The high voltage direct current cable would also be the deepest in the world at nearly 5km below sea level.
Taslink's goal was to buy power from one country at a cheaper rate and then sell it to the other, taking advantage of the differing climates and time zones.
"The thing about New Zealand and Australia is that we have a two hour time difference, so we have a morning peak followed [two hours later] by Australia's morning peak," Taslink co-director Richard Homewood said.
"We also have our peak demand in winter time (for heating), when we have cold and dry winters, whereas Australia has the highest demand on hot days in summer (for cooling)."
That meant Australia often had surplus power at times when New Zealand needed it, and vice versa.
"We will be purchasing power from the electricity markets in both countries, so we will have generators in New Zealand producing power that could be purchased by Taslink and sold into the Australian market," he said.
"On the same way you could have generators in Australia... Say, solar, because Australia has an abundance of daytime solar."
Homewood presented Taslink as an answer to New Zealand's soaring electricity prices, suggesting it could drive prices down.
"If we take last year as an example and we look only at the month of August, in relation to that period our independent advice indicates Taslink could have saved New Zealanders $400 million on power costs in the month of August alone," Homewood said.
Taslink was still seeking private funding, with construction still far away.
"This announcement times with our second round of private funding, which will finance the second stage of product development... We can then go out to seek the third round ahead of commencing construction in 2028."
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