New Zealand’s energy sector is undergoing a rapid transition to meet decarbonisation targets, respond to increasing demands from EVs and distributed energy resources (DERs), and modernise aging infrastructure. Vector, as Auckland’s primary electricity distributor, required a next-generation digital foundation to lead this transition — one that could deliver resilience, scalability, and intelligence across the grid.
Smart Grid Transformation
Operational Technology Modernisation
Cloud-Native Infrastructure
GHOST6 delivered a first-of-its-kind deployment that set a new benchmark for the energy sector in Aotearoa and the wider Asia-Pacific region:
All of this was delivered using a DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) operating model — shifting Vector from reactive to predictive, and ultimately self-healing grid operations.
Vector’s operational capability to predict, plan for, and rapidly respond to network issues dramatically improved — especially during storm events and natural disasters. The integration of GIS with DERMS created unprecedented visibility and responsiveness at the edge.
Vector’s smart grid now supports Virtual Power Plant (VPP) use cases — intelligently coordinating consumer and commercial battery assets, solar, and EVs to smooth demand and avoid building new high-emissions generation capacity. This contributes directly to national emissions reductions and grid decarbonisation goals.
The advanced grid management capability enables Vector to defer billions in capital investment that would otherwise be required to expand grid capacity under a traditional infrastructure model — especially to manage the rise of EVs, rooftop solar, and other DERs.
With a cloud-native, hybrid infrastructure and SRE model, Vector now operates with:
This project demonstrates the next frontier of utility operations — where grid intelligence is embedded at the edge, infrastructure is adaptive and self-optimising, and capital is allocated more efficiently. It sets a precedent for how modern OT and cloud-native architecture can underpin both energy resilience and climate transition.