For the year ahead, the company’s guidance was for ebitdaf in a range of $430m to $460m, subject to hydrological conditions, gas availability, plant reliability, and stable market conditions.
The big four - Genesis, Mercury, Meridian and Contact - this month signed detailed agreements to establish a strategic energy reserve centred on Huntly Power Station (HPS) in support of national security of supply.
The agreements will support critical back-up electricity generation and fuel being available to support the security of the electricity system and price stability.
The company said the 2025 year was marked by high volatility across the energy sector.
“Declining gas availability, low hydrology and increased reliance on thermal generation tested the resilience of the sector,” it said.
“Genesis responded by flexing its portfolio to support both its customers and the wider market, with HPS playing a central role in maintaining national energy security,” it said.
Chief executive Malcolm Johns said Huntly once again played a critical role in ensuring earnings resilience and security of supply for New Zealand.
“It is now widely accepted that Huntly is essential to the country’s future energy security and will remain a core asset within the Genesis portfolio,” he said.
He said the coal- and gas-powered station is now backing up national wind generation more often than it is backing up dry hydro periods.
“Energy security is required across minutes, hours, days, weeks and months, and HPS has asset and fuel flexibility to monetise the full spectrum,” he said.
Johns said hydro generation had also provided significant value for the company, leveraging the geographic diversity of the company’s hydro schemes to capture rainfall in different regions and deliver between 2.6 and 3 terawatt hours a year.
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets, the primary sector and energy. He joined the Herald in 2011.
