Disclaimer
Beacon Investment Screening (the "Platform") is operated by Lumere Energy Limited ("Lumere", "we", "us"). The Platform is designed and offered for business and professional use in New Zealand's renewable-energy and electricity-grid sector, including developers, investors, landowners acting in trade, electricity distribution businesses and network operators, advisers, and government or industry participants. By accessing the Platform or any Output, you agree to this Disclaimer and the Terms of Use.
Last updated 1 October 2026.
1. What Beacon is
Beacon is a directional screening tool. It converts published grid and market data into a fast, directional view of the electrical and economic characteristics of New Zealand interconnection nodes and transmission corridors. For each connection point and corridor, Beacon may display a grade from A to E for solar and wind, a band for batteries, a nodal price ranking, and a view of saturation and headroom with the queue counted at full size. The grade compares a screening estimate of what a farm would earn at that point with a middle screening estimate of what it would cost to build there. Beacon's battery view places each connection point in a band read from how far the evening price sits above the cheapest block of the day, for a battery on its own and for a battery beside a solar or wind farm. Beacon also shows supporting indicators, including an estimated achieved price and a screening build cost in dollars per megawatt hour. All of these are derived from historical market data, traded forward prices, other published data and Lumere's methodology.
2. Screening tool only, not advice or a bankability assessment
Outputs are directional screening signals only. They are a starting point for further investigation, not a conclusion, and are not a bankability assessment, feasibility study, valuation, recommendation, engineering design, connection approval, investment product, or financial advice. Lumere is not acting as your financial adviser, investment adviser, technical adviser, engineering adviser, consenting adviser, legal adviser, or broker by making the Platform available, and no Output should be relied on as the sole or primary basis for any investment, financing, acquisition, development, grid-connection, consenting, procurement, or commercial decision.
3. The grade is a screening ratio, not a return
Beacon's grade compares an estimated achieved price at a connection point with a middle estimate of build cost, and places the result in one of five bands from A to E. It is a screening grade only. It is not a valuation, an internal rate of return, a yield, a price target, a recommendation to build, acquire, finance or invest, or a rating of any financial product or of any person. A high grade is not a representation that a project at that location is viable, consentable, financeable or profitable. The grade does not assess the specific resource at a site, land or tenure, the consenting path, connection cost, or any other project-specific factor, each of which you must evaluate independently.
4. Dollar figures are screening estimates, not revenue
Where Beacon shows an achieved price in dollars per megawatt hour, or any other dollar figure, it is a screening estimate formed by applying a measured or benchmarked price-capture rate to a forward hub price taken from traded New Zealand electricity futures, or to a current hub price where Beacon shows today's prices, with a locational adjustment for how the connection point prices against the hub. It is not a revenue forecast, a valuation, the price any project will achieve, a merchant or contracted price, or a basis for financing. It excludes project costs, losses, spill, balancing, connection and network charges, fees, taxes, and all project-specific factors. Actual prices are volatile and hydrology-dependent and will differ, potentially materially. Build-cost figures, including any levelised cost of energy, cost band, cover ratio, cover gap, uncovered-dollar figure or economic build-out classification, are triangulated screening estimates formed from a bank of publicly disclosed New Zealand project costs admitted under Lumere's written inclusion standard, blended with government and global benchmarks, and regionalised by an assumed capacity factor. Disclosed project costs are taken from the published statements of project owners, developers, financiers or government and are not verified by Lumere. Build-cost figures are not construction quotes, project budgets or financing figures, and the classification of any queued project as economic, cost-sensitive or uneconomic is a screening device only, not a prediction that any project will or will not proceed. Where a project card shows a yield or other figure disclosed by a project's owner, it is reproduced from that owner's public statement, is not verified by Lumere, and may be calculated on a basis different from Beacon's own figures.
5. Your project inputs and the held basis
Where the Platform lets you describe your own project, including its location, technology, size, development stage, commissioning intention, contracted or on-site share of output, contract price, build cost, and whether a connection is held, those facts are supplied by you and are not verified by Lumere. Outputs computed from them, including any secured or held-basis rating, any grade on your own figures, any uncovered-dollar figure scaled by your stated contracted share, and any stage-dependent presentation, are only as reliable as the facts you supply, and any held-basis rating rests on your own statement that a connection is held. Where you enter a contract price or build cost, Beacon shows a grade on your figures beside its own. That grade is only as reliable as the figures you supply, which Lumere does not verify.
6. Embedded and distribution connections
Where a project connects through a local distribution network, or at a point for which Beacon holds no rated data, Beacon reads the grade, prices and congestion from the nearest rated grid exit point by location and says so on the card. That is a screening proxy. Beacon cannot see the local distribution network, the lines company's capacity, connection process or terms, or any active network management, and you must confirm all distribution-level matters with the relevant lines company.
7. Scope and exclusions
Beacon assesses electrical and economic screening characteristics only, using publicly available inputs (including published Transpower interconnection branch-capacity information, Electricity Authority EMI nodal pricing, publicly available Transpower Envision Opportunities information, published generation and non-generation connection pipelines, and Transpower GIS information, traded New Zealand electricity futures prices, network capacity information published by electricity distribution businesses, and published New Zealand project cost disclosures) together with Lumere's own methodology. Beacon does not investigate, verify, or assess land availability or tenure, property rights, designation or consenting feasibility, environmental or ecological matters, cultural, iwi or community matters, geotechnical or hydrological conditions, the actual construction cost, capex or opex of any project, connection cost, connection terms, outage requirements, offtake, project financeability, credit, taxation, legal risk, or any other physical, commercial, regulatory, or legal site characteristic.
8. Nature of the method
Beacon's measures are deliberately conservative screening measures, not engineering studies. Corridor capacity is a transparent thermal screen derived from published branch ratings, not a security-constrained transfer study. Node headroom uses published worst-case N-1 winter information as a proxy for secure capacity. The queue is counted at full size, as if every project builds, and Beacon states separately how much of it is economic to build. This is a screening device only and is not a prediction that any project will or will not proceed. Price is presented as a ranking or signal, not a gate. Non-generation load is shown as context and is not folded into headroom because its effect cannot reliably be determined without power-flow modelling and more detailed system analysis.
9. Storage indicators are an upper bound, not a revenue estimate
Beacon's battery view is a band, not a letter. It is read from how far the evening price has sat above the cheapest block of the day at that location, for a battery on its own and for a battery beside a solar or wind farm. Where Beacon pairs a battery with a farm, it uses the metered output of a solar or wind farm within 100 km where one exists. Where none does, the pairing is modelled on a typical generation shape and is marked provisional. Whether a battery would cover its cost is judged against a screening view of battery build cost, which is a Lumere assumption and not a quote. Any figure for what a battery would have earned or added replays prices that have already occurred, with the battery operated as if the day's prices were known in advance. It excludes wear on the battery, network and connection charges, power used by the site itself, and revenue from contracts, reserves or other services. It is an upper bound on what was historically available at that location. It is not an estimate of what a project would earn, a revenue forecast, or a basis for financing. A band shown for a battery is a screening signal describing the daily price gap at that location, not a bankable rating, and the Platform labels it as such.
10. Observed relationships are patterns, not proof of cause
Where Beacon reports a relationship between two things it measures, such as how much generation a region has already built and what output there has earned, that is a pattern observed across locations at a point in time. It is not evidence that one causes the other. Locations differ in ways Beacon does not measure, and a relationship seen in one technology may not carry to another.
11. Forward views are scenario screens, not forecasts
Beacon's forward views, including the 2028 grade and any forward price basis, are scenario screens. They carry today's published development pipeline forward and price it on a forward hub price taken from traded New Zealand electricity futures, which reflects the market's view on the day it is read and changes as futures trade. They are not forecasts of prices, generation, congestion, build-out, project success, investment returns, or your project's revenue. Battery, solar and wind indicators (including the daily price gap, how the evening price compares with the cheapest block of the day, capture, reserves, storage-competition signals and any battery paired with a farm) are measured from historical public market data and Lumere's domain judgment and describe what that data has shown, not what will happen. Future hydrology, market conditions, policy settings, dispatch patterns, demand, generation build-out, transmission investment and connection decisions will differ from any assumption Beacon uses, and past or modelled patterns do not guarantee future outcomes.
12. Your due diligence remains essential
You must carry out your own market, grid, legal, property, consenting, environmental, cultural, technical, financial and commercial due diligence before making any decision or committing capital. Beacon is only one input into a broader diligence process. You should independently verify capacity availability, connection feasibility, connection cost and terms, assumptions, and any project-specific issues directly with Transpower and other relevant authorities, counterparties and advisers.
13. Data sources, currency and accuracy
Inputs are sourced from public sources and refreshed on a periodic cycle determined by Lumere (currently monthly unless stated otherwise). Regional boundaries use Stats NZ Regional Council 2025 (CC BY 4.0), grouped by Beacon for screening. Views may display a time stamp showing the date or period to which the underlying data relates. Each monthly edition compares with the prior month restated on the current method, so a restated figure may differ from the figure shown in an earlier edition. Where Lumere changes its method, the change is reported separately and is not presented as a movement in the market. Public datasets can contain errors, omissions, restatements, delays, inconsistencies, modelling assumptions and publication gaps. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Lumere does not warrant that any data, methodology, Output or feature is accurate, complete, current, error-free, uninterrupted, fit for purpose, or suitable for any use case.
14. Sources and attribution
Beacon is built on public data licensed or confirmed for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0): interconnection branch capacity and the generation and non-generation connection pipelines from Transpower New Zealand Limited; nodal pricing, reserves and generation data from the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko; and regional boundaries from Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa. Beacon additionally uses publicly available Transpower Envision Opportunities information with attribution, as an indicative guide only and not under a Creative Commons licence. Beacon also uses traded New Zealand electricity futures prices published by ASX, network capacity information published by electricity distribution businesses, and public statements of project costs and yields by project owners, developers, financiers and government, each subject to any terms stated by its publisher. Lumere acknowledges these sources, is not endorsed by or affiliated with them, and does not present any Output as theirs. All classification, ranking and commentary is Lumere's own. A full source and licensing register is published on the Methodology page.
15. Coverage limits
Beacon covers only the parts of the New Zealand grid and related published inputs that Lumere has chosen to include from available public data. It does not cover connection assets and radial feeds for which relevant capacity is not publicly published, and it may show HVDC links or infrastructure deviations for orientation only without a grade. A point shown without a grade, or marked as not graded, reflects genuinely unpublished, unavailable or unsuitable input data, not a representation that no operational issue exists. Where Beacon does not rate a technology at a point because the point is built up, lies in an outstanding natural landscape or protected area, or has too weak a resource, that is a screening exclusion only. It is not a representation about whether any project there could or could not be consented, built or connected, and a point that is graded may still face any of those constraints.
16. No reliance on informal statements
Unless expressly set out in a written order form, the Terms of Use, or an Output purchased from Lumere, you must not rely on any estimate, illustration, statement, presentation, marketing material, demo, discussion, or correspondence as a representation, warranty, commitment or advice from Lumere. Any examples, screenshots, sample outputs and product demonstrations are illustrative only.
17. No warranty; exclusion and limitation of liability
The Platform and all Outputs are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Lumere excludes all warranties, guarantees, conditions and representations, whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise, including any implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, acceptable quality, fitness for purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy, availability, continuity, merchantable quality, or results. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Lumere is not liable for any loss or damage arising from or in connection with the Platform or any Output, including any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive, exemplary, consequential or economic loss, loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of savings, loss of opportunity, loss of goodwill, loss of bargain, business interruption, or loss or corruption of data, even if Lumere knew or should have known such loss was possible. Any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded is limited to the extent set out in the Terms of Use.
18. Consumer Guarantees Act and Fair Trading Act position
Beacon is not offered as a consumer product and is intended to be supplied and acquired for business purposes. In many cases the Platform and Outputs will not be goods or services of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use. In addition, where and to the extent permitted by law, the Terms of Use contain business-use acknowledgements, contracting-out language and non-reliance provisions intended to address the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and section 5D of the Fair Trading Act 1986. Nothing in this Disclaimer, however, excludes any statutory right that cannot lawfully be excluded or contracted out of.
19. Licensed and confidential Outputs
Paid Outputs, including report cards, snapshots, subscription views and briefings, are licensed for the purchaser's internal business use only and remain subject to the Terms of Use. They may not be redistributed, resold, sublicensed, externally published or used to create competing products without Lumere's written consent. Watermarks, attribution notices and time stamps may be used to support provenance and enforcement.
20. Payments and data
Lumere holds your name, email and organisation, a record of your purchases and access, and, where you use My projects, the project details you enter. Card and payment details are collected and stored by our payment provider, Stripe; Lumere does not see or store full card details. How project details are used, including the creation of aggregated and de-identified market intelligence and the protection of identifiable project-level data, is set out in the Project Data and Derived Intelligence part of the Terms of Use, and personal information is handled under Lumere's Privacy Policy.
Questions and error reports may be sent to ryan@lumere.co.nz. Full Terms of Use apply to the Platform and all Outputs.