Transpower confident blackouts can be avoided this winter despite last week's grid emergency notice

Transpower is reassuring Kiwis enough power is available this winter despite a system scare last week. 

An emergency grid notice was issued on Thursday, creating some concern that lights and heat pumps could be forced to be switched off across the country. 

But Transpower chief executive Alison Andrew was confident blackouts could be avoided this winter. 

"We believe that there is enough, sufficient generation," she told AM on Monday.

Andrew said Thursday's emergency resulted from three electricity units failing at the same time. 

"That's unusual and we were able to manage it with [a] controllable load so no one was disconnected, and the power was stable."

She added Transpower's forecasts show there may be a few "tight" electricity days in the coming months. Those tight days could be when generation plants or transmission circuits were down for maintenance, she told AM host Melissa Chan-Green.

"Generally, we'll work together [with the industry] to make sure we can find a way to give us sufficient generation capacity available for that time," Andrew said.

New Zealanders could continue using power as normal, she said.

"I can never guarantee to you that we won't have a power outage - no one can do that - but what I can guarantee to you is that we will work hard as an industry to make sure there is sufficient generation and, like we did last Thursday, make sure no one needs to have their power turned off."

The Electricity Authority earlier this year found Transpower was to blame for a power cut to 34,000 New Zealand homes on August 9 - one of 2021's coldest nights.