In 2011, the NT had an installed electricity generation capacity of 686 MW. Distribution peak demand was 577 MW. The utilisation of electricity in 2011 was 3,293 GWh for both generation and distribution, as the NT has an independent electricity network.
The DEC from electricity infrastructure in 2011 was $119 million. This was made up of $34 million from generation and $85 million from distribution.
The Audit forecasts a 26 per cent increase in the use of electricity from 2011 to 2031. This equates to 4,150 GWh for generation and distribution by 2031. Based on these forecasts, the Audit projects a 44 per cent increase in the DEC of electricity infrastructure from $119 million to $170 million. The $52 million increase is made up of $14 million from generation and $38 million from distribution.
The main electricity network in the NT is the Darwin-Katherine system. Growth in electricity demand in this system has been strong relative to other jurisdictions in recent years.
Demand growth and other factors have led to investment in new generation assets, for example the expansion of the Channel Island power station by 100 MW in 2011.
In its 2012-13 Power System Review, the NT Utilities Commission concluded that there is a high level of generation capacity over the next 10 years, but there may be issues with reliability. In addition, there is also sufficient network capacity to meet future demand for the 10-year period, but there are concerns about the reliability of certain network assets.
The Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (and the previous Renewable Energy Target) have led to a substantial increase in the penetration of wind farms across Australia, although there are currently no large scale wind farms operating in the NT.
The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, feed-in tariffs, and other solar photovoltaic (PV) subsidies have led to a significant increase in the penetration of solar PV systems in the last five years. In the NT, the capacity of installed solar PV has increased from 1.6 MW at the start of 2010 to 16.4 MW as of October 2014.