Transpower says its contingency plan to remove transmission lines because of the extreme solar storm, should not impact supply of electricity to consumers

The period of the emergency notice was initially from 9am until midday, but Transpower has since extended it until 6pm.

Transpower says its control rooms are monitoring the event.

The instruction from Transpower's system operator was for eight South Island assets to be removed from service for the alarm period. They were located broadly, including at Manapouri, Benmore, Ashburton and Halfway Bush.

North Island assets removed include some in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Whanganui and Manawatu.