Good News - Transpower’s latest decarbonisation report
Kristin Gillies, April 10, 2020
New Zealand's electricity supply is already over 80% renewable and we’re well placed to keep that number climbing.
Transpower’s latest decarbonisation report Whakamana i Te Mauri Hiko – Empowering our Energy Future shows there is a clear path to it being around 95% renewable by 2035, with options to then moving to 100%.
The report builds on the original Te Mauri Hiko released in 2018. It forecasts lower electricity demand growth of 70% to 2050, compared to 100% in the 2018 report, due to widespread uptake of energy efficiency measures. The report outlines a changing energy sector driven by clear and large potential for cheaper wind and solar generation and falling battery and electric vehicle prices.
Report highlights for SEANZ members include:
Around 40 new, grid-scale, generation and batteries projects required to 2035;
Smart grid made up of millions of smart appliances and smart EV chargers plus many small scale solar photovoltaic and battery systems in 2035, easing the need for more generation and network investment
Alison Andrew, Chief Executive of Transpower states that “with this optimism must now come urgency, because at the same time as the opportunity to build a new, low carbon economy has never been clearer, we are not yet on track to realise it and there are many
obstacles to be navigated”.
The government’s commitment to new infrastructure spending to keep our economy afloat post COVID-19 is a great opportunity to take a leap forward in the electrification of our economy. SEANZ is actively lobbying for this and this new report from Transpower should be all the justification the government needs to make it happen.
