Sunday, February 16, 2025

Energy report shows 87% renewables boost

Close to 90% of electricity generated over 2022 came from renewable sources, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) annual report into the energy sector has shown.

Released today, Energy in New Zealand 2023 is MBIE’s annual round-up of the energy sector, highlighting key trends in energy supply, transformation and demand for the 2022 calendar year.

“High rainfall topped up New Zealand’s hydro lakes over the winter months, making hydro a major contributor to renewable generation. Hydro generation was 60% of all electricity for 2022, up 4.4 percentage points on 2021,” says MBIE Manager Markets, Digital, Data & Insights, Mike Hayward.

“In contrast, coal-fired electricity accounted for only 2.9% of generation, down 4.1 percentage points on 2021. This meant the amount of coal imported for the year was 60.6% lower than in 2021,” Mr Hayward said.

New Zealand’s wider renewable capacity continued to grow in 2022, with new records for renewable energy consumption.

“Energy consumed from renewable sources accounted for 30% of the total final consumption in 2022, the highest value ever recorded,” said Mr Hayward.

Energy supply from renewables reached 44% in 2022, building off last year’s record high of 40.8%. This is the highest since reporting started in 1990.

The closure of Marsden Point Oil Refinery in 2022 also saw New Zealand increase imports of refined oil products like petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel. Refined oil imports more than doubled in 2022, however, the total oil products imported increased by only 5.3%. This was because no crude oil was imported in the last three quarters of 2022, MBIE reports.

Three years after the pandemic began, New Zealand’s energy consumption has remained 6.5% below pre-COVID-19 levels. Energy consumption was 543 petajoules (PJ) compared to a peak of 581 PJ in 2019.

Consumption by sector also changed slightly, with energy use in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector falling by 8.4% (or 2.6 PJ) compared to 2021.

You can read the full Energy in New Zealand 2023 report on MBIE’s website.

Energy in New Zealand

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