Geography NCEA 3.

6
2022

Resource Booklet
Supports internal assessment for:
Achievement Standard 91431 Version 2

Credits: 3

Sustainable Electricity Generation in New Zealand

Guidelines:

 The information in this booklet will assist you to complete the assessment activity.
 You are advised to familiarise yourself with this material before you attempt the Achievement
Standard.

Sections in this booklet

 Section 1: Facts and Figures

 Section 2: Electricity Generation and Demand
 Section 3: Perspectives on electricity generation
 Section 4: Marking Outline. Refer to this marking outline before answering each question
Section 1: Facts and Figures

Source B – Geothermally Active Areas

Source A – Primary Electricity in New Zealand Suitable for Electricity
Generation Providers Generation – GNS Science

Source D – A Map
Showing Solar Radiation -
NIWA

Source C – A map indicating

available coal in New Zealand

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Source E – NZ electricity

Source F – Net electricity

generation in NZ

Source G – NZ Population
3
Density
Source H – Electricity pricing by area

4
Source I – Electricity Consumption by Sector NZ

Source J – Regional Demand

5
Source K – Employees in fossil fuel electricity generation

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Section 2: Electricity Generation & Demand
2.1 Electricity supply

As at the end of 2017, electricity was supplied to around 1.7 million residential consumers. They account for about 85
percent of all customers but consume only about 32 percent of the country’s electricity. Usage varies from season to season.
Commercial consumers (such as shops, factories and other businesses) represent about nine percent of customers. They use
about 24 percent of the electricity consumed. Although there are only 123,000 industrial consumers in New Zealand (six
percent of customers), they use 44 percent of total electricity consumption. This includes about seven percent used in the
agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors. The single largest consumer is New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Limited, at Tiwai
Point in Southland, which is included in the industrial sector. It consumed about 5,000 GWh, which was about 13 percent of
New Zealand’s total electricity demand in 2017.

2.2 Electricity demand

Around a third of New Zealand’s electricity demand is from households and over a third is from industrial sectors. The
majority of industrial electricity demand is from the wood, pulp, paper and printing sectors and the basic metals sectors,
with the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter being the largest single user of electricity in the country. The commercial sectors
consume around a quarter of New Zealand’s electricity demand. The remaining demand comes from the transport sectors
and the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors, which consume only a small amount.

Because demand for electricity varies from moment to moment, supply needs to change to match it. There are daily and
seasonal patterns, with electricity consumption usually highest on cold winter evenings when people want to heat their
houses and are also cooking. While most people would expect electricity use to peak in the winter, some regions may have
a higher demand during summer. This can happen, for example, when farmers use large irrigation pumps or people want
to turn on air-conditioning. Residential demand (or use) peaks in the morning and in the evening. Demand peaks in the
morning as people get up and start their day, and in the evening when they return home to cook dinner and watch TV.
Electricity distribution networks have to be capable of supplying enough electricity during those daily peak times when
demand is highest.

Source: Electricity Authority NZ (2019)

2.3 Electricity Generation (the companies that generate electricity)

BIG IDEA: GENERATION COMPANIES USE RESOURCES SUCH AS FLOWING WATER, WIND, GAS, GEOTHERMAL HEAT,
AND COAL TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY.

There are more than 219 electricity generation stations in New Zealand. Five large generation companies produce the
majority of our electricity. Generation accounts for about 32 percent of residential consumers’ total electricity costs. The five
major companies (Contact Energy, Trustpower, Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy and Mercury NZ) are all listed on the stock
exchange. Between them, they own 98 power stations. They also operate approximately 81 power stations on behalf of
other owners. The government has a major shareholding in three of the big five generators. Other hydro, cogeneration,
geothermal and wind generation companies operate a further 40 plants. Co-generators produce both heat and electricity for
industrial use. Their excess electricity is often exported into distribution networks or the national grid. In addition, many
smaller businesses or consumers supply electricity to their network from small scale generation such as solar power.

Hydroelectric generation has been a part of New Zealand’s energy system for over 100 years and continues to provide the
majority of our electricity needs. Currently there's over 5,000 MW of installed hydro capacity. The majority of it is found in
the South Island.

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Geothermal generation has, for a long time, been an integral part of New Zealand’s electricity landscape. It began over
55 years ago with the opening of the Wairakei power station in November 1958. Most of New Zealand’s installed
capacity is situated in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Geothermal generation is around 15% of New Zealand’s electricity
generation.

Wind generation has grown quickly as a source of electricity in New Zealand. The first wind farm, Hau Nui, was
commissioned in 1997. Now wind generation makes up around 5% of New Zealand’s electricity generation. Most of New
Zealand’s wind farms are located in the North Island. This includes the country’s 2 largest farms, Tararua Wind Farm and
West Wind Makara, which are located in the lower North Island.

Electricity generation from the combustion of coal, oil, and gas provides baseload, backup and peaker electricity supply.
Generation from these fuels is around a quarter of New Zealand’s electricity generation. Most of New Zealand’s thermal
plants are found in the North Island, close to domestic coal, oil, and gas resources.

a. Geothermal energy

Geothermal power provides about 17 percent of our renewable electricity. Together the geothermal power stations produce
about 7,100 GWh of electricity each year. There are currently six fields used for geothermal electricity generation. These are
principally located in the Taupō Volcanic Zone, with one field at Ngāwhā in Northland. There are many advantages to
geothermal energy. It is a renewable energy source. In modern geothermal plants the water (and sometimes the steam)
used can be pumped back (reinjected) into the ground in the geothermal field. Reinjection helps the fields regenerate and
stabilises the ground. Because there are greenhouse gases (GHG) dissolved in the geothermal fluids, geothermal power
stations do emit some GHG, but usually far less than gas or coal plants. Importantly, geothermal power provides a reliable
supply of energy for conversion to electricity.

b. Wind energy

Wind generates a growing proportion of the country’s electricity. At the moment, there is about 700 MW of large- scale
wind generation available in New Zealand, supplying around five percent of the country’s electricity needs.

c. Solar energy

Solar power is a growing generation type. Most solar generation is produced by solar panels (photovoltaic) on private
homes. The installation cost of solar panel systems in New Zealand fell 75 percent in the 10 years to 2018. By 31 March
2018, New Zealand had about 18,000 residential connections with installed solar generation. The installed capacity is about
62 MW and accounted for about 83 percent of the country’s total installed solar capacity. Some retailers offer to buy back
excess solar electricity, generated by consumers, that is exported back into the local network4 . Both solar and wind
generation are intermittent as neither energy source can be controlled. When the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t
blowing, electricity needs to be provided by other sources, such as hydro or thermal.

d. Geothermal heat

Other types of fuel for generating electricity are coal, diesel and gas. These are known as ‘thermal generators’. Thermal fuel
can be stored and is not dependent on weather conditions. Thermal plants often generate when other supply sources are
scarce. Some industrial sites produce heat and electricity for industrial purposes, in a process known as cogeneration.
Excess cogenerated electricity is often exported into distribution networks or to the national grid.

e. Ocean wave energy

Tidal and wave power are examples of emerging technologies that may become viable forms of electricity generation
for New Zealand in the future.

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 f. Batteries

Batteries may increasingly become a viable option to store electricity when price or demand is low and release that
electricity later when price or demand is high. Importantly, batteries do not generate any new electricity but can be used
to reduce the need for new generation by reducing the peak demand.

Source: NZ Government & Electricity Authority NZ (2019)

2.4 Renewable Energy in New Zealand

A natural source of energy that is not depleted by use. Examples includes flowing water and wind, geothermal heat, or solar
energy.

As the countries of the world map out strategies to bend their

fossil fuel emissions curves down to tackle climate change and
air pollution, New Zealand’s renewables advantage shines
bright. Our ability to generate clean, renewable electricity is
perhaps our greatest international advantage. And by 2035,
that advantage could be running at 100 percent.

For New Zealand to secure a smooth transition to a truly

renewable electricity system and realise its economic and
environmental benefits a multifaceted focus is required:
1. On supply and demand side aspects of the electricity
system,
2. On specific drivers and on system resilience.

Transitioning from an 82 to 100 percent renewable electricity

profile is harder said than done: ensuring the grid is reliable
and affordable without the safety net of traditional fuels is
New Zealand’s chief challenge, especially with electricity
demand set to double by 2050.

Because of our heavy reliance on hydroelectricity (which is susceptible to dry years), ensuring baseload generation will
require significant investments in intermittency-mitigating technologies including distributed generation, industrial demand
side response and battery storage.

The Productivity Commission’s report on pathways to a low-emissions future provides additional incentives for these
technologies. It identified that one of the three key drivers to a low-emissions economy will be replacing combustible fossil
fuels with electricity in the transport sector, principally through the rapid uptake of electric vehicles. Of course, for that
transport transition to be remotely effective, an electricity grid that is free of fossil fuels is a prerequisite.

New Zealand’s transition to 100 percent renewables will also drive job creation and create new opportunities. The
International Labour Organisation’s flagship 2018 report estimates 24 million new jobs will be created globally by 2030
as a result of transitioning to the low-carbon economy, substantially offsetting losses in traditional industries.

Already in the US, solar accounts for the largest share of workers in the Electric Power Generation sector — almost
double that of fossil fuels. Advantages will not simply be drawn by eliminating fossil fuels from our energy mix, but by
shifting from them today. A 2018 Westpac Climate Change Impact Report found that by weaning ourselves off coal and
gas and taking climate change action seriously now, we could be $30 billion better off by 2050.

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A deeply important benefit in the shift to a low-carbon economy also lies in our geothermal energy advantage. Offering
distinct environmental and economic advantages, geothermal energy emits 18 percent the CO2 a similar sized coal-fired
power station does; it has a load factor of 95 percent (compared to 30-50 percent for the average hydro or wind power
plant) and it can produce three times the energy of a wind farm of a similar size.

It is also one of New Zealand’s cheapest energy sources. Between 2008 and 2014, half of all geothermal energy installed
around the world took place in New Zealand, leading to a doubling of our geothermal electricity capacity. Given the
importance geothermal could have in the future for our Ring of Fire neighbours — such as Indonesia, Vietnam and the
Philippines — we’re well-placed to increase the export of our expertise.

The 2018 updates to our original Advantages were written and designed by John Lang, founder of Consult Climate.
Reference: Transpower, Te Mauri Hiko – Energy Futures. The base case: Composition of New Zealand’s electricity supply
portfolio by generation type – 2015 to 2050 100 (Exhibit 11, p 26)

2.5 Coal energy in New Zealand

New Zealand has 18 producing coal mines (October 2017) - with the major coalfields located in the Waikato, the West Coast,
Otago and Southland. These are all open cast mining operations, which in 2016 produced 2.9 million tonnes of coal, for
domestic use and for export.

Coal is highly variable in quality and in its impurities from one mining operation to another. For this reason, blending is an
important part of the value chain for export coal, and for domestic use. An entire industry has grown around the purchase
of coal from diverse sources; blending to client specifications; and transport, handling and support to individual users. The
greater the number of coal mines in operation, the more efficient and effective is this part of the New Zealand coal
economy.

Coal is New Zealand's most abundant known energy resource, with an estimated 15 billion tonnes to which there is ready
access - 80 per cent of this is brown coal or lignite.

Coal has played a key role in the development of modern New Zealand. At present there is no practical alternative to coal as
a source of affordable, industrial process heat for fuelling our industrial processes - especially in the South Island which has
no online-gas. Alternative technologies are in development, of course, but for the immediate future major New Zealand
companies such as the Fonterra dairy co- operative still rely heavily on coal as energy for their manufacturing facilities.

Coal's annual economic contribution to the country runs into many billions of dollars, thinking of steel, cement, food,
wood and wool products, as examples of goods produced. If we didn't have extensive domestic supplies, coal would be
imported, and, at times it is, mostly from Indonesia.

Coal mining plays a substantial role in underpinning several regional economies. On the West Coast 1 for example, 22% of
regional GDP is earned directly and indirectly from mining, mainly gold and coal. 2010 studies indicated around 8,000
people were employed directly and indirectly in the minerals sector (including quarries) and salaries on average more than
double the national average - many in areas with limited employment opportunities.

Today the coal industry is highly regulated, as is the case for industry in New Zealand generally, including in relation to
CO2 emissions.

The coal industry has a keen interest in New Zealand's energy future, and the types of pathway New Zealand could take in
varying its energy mix. It is inevitable that the role of coal in the New Zealand economy will change over time. Straterra has
supported the work of the BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) in producing energy scenarios for New Zeaand.

Source – ‘Let’s talk about coal’

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Section 3: Opinions on electricity generation

Article 1: Natural gas part of the solution to lowering emissions

John Carnegie, Jul 23 2020

It’s great to see our regular critic Terrence Loomis agreeing with us on the need to transition to lower emissions. What he
underestimates though is how natural gas can help and create jobs for New Zealanders at the same time. Here in New
Zealand it supplies 400,000 homes, businesses, schools and hospitals who rely on it for cooking, heating and hot water.
Industries like dairy plants, meatworks and timber processing all use natural gas to create exports and jobs, helping power
our economic recovery.

As well as being affordable and reliable, it’s also a lower carbon transition fuel helping us lower emissions. Around the
world it is replacing higher-emitting energy sources like coal, and it makes renewable electricity possible by providing
back-up for when the weather doesn’t cooperate and/or demand is high.

Dr Loomis argues this is a ‘myth’ but the rest of the world clearly disagrees, given that global demand for natural gas is
booming. As the world’s population grows we are going need more energy from all sources, especially natural gas.
Renewable energy is great and we’ll need more of it, but it just isn’t affordable or reliable enough yet to power our lives -
otherwise it would already be doing so.

There are many important uses for natural gas and oil for which there is no credible alternative yet, like producing
steel for houses and buildings, and fuel for aircraft. It’s also worth remembering that many uses don’t involve the
release of any emissions at all. Everything from plastics, clothing, building materials, medical products, clothing
and fertilisers are all made from petroleum products.

Therefore, the proposal by Dr Loomis to ‘rapidly phase out’ our industry is laughable and defies any economic logic.
Given we are going to still use natural gas and oil as we transition, it makes sense to produce them here in New Zealand
rather than importing from overseas. What a tragedy it would be if we end up reliant on LNG imports from Australia
when we are blessed with our own low-carbon natural gas.

This is now a real risk, given we have rapidly shrinking natural gas reserves and rapidly shrinking opportunities to replace
them. It would also be disastrous if we lose major industries overseas because the cost of energy increases. We’ve seen
this with the price of electricity and Tiwai point recently, a sober reminder of the devastating impact this can have on jobs
and livelihoods.

Some might welcome the Tiwai closure in the hope it will mean cheaper renewable power for other uses, but this is by no
means guaranteed. If it leads to the removal of gas fired power generation then this will have knock-on impacts for the
availability and price of natural gas for major industrial users, destroying even more jobs.

Losing major industries like steel and aluminium production would make us more reliant on overseas producers and more
vulnerable to future economic shocks. Added salt in the wound is that many of these industries moving overseas could end
up using higher-emitting fuel sources instead. This is why we totally disagree with Dr Loomis on his call for ‘supply side’
restrictions such as ending local exploration. This would destroy local jobs and do nothing for the climate as production
would simply shift overseas.

The best tool to use is the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) because it lets people decide for themselves the most efficient
way to reduce emissions. Various studies (including the joint 2018 Nobel Prize winner for economics) have shown that
emissions pricing is by far the most cost-effective way of reducing emissions. We all want the same thing – a strong
economy creating jobs, and a smooth transition to lower emissions. New Zealand-made natural gas is going to be a
crucial tool in achieving this.

John Carnegie is the Chief Executive of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ).
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Article 2: New fund aims to alleviate household energy hardship

The government has announced funding to support households struggling to pay their energy bills.

The $17 million pot, announced by the energy and resources minister, will establish an energy hardship group and
electricity consumer advocacy council.

Megan Woods said the groups will help improve energy efficiency and reduce hardship in New Zealand's
households and give small electricity consumers a voice.

She said pilot programmes will be developed to assist people struggling with energy payments, including a network of
organisations providing electricity-specific advice and support services for those in need.

The money will be used to:

 establish a cross-sector energy hardship group to provide advice and co-ordination for initiatives across
government, industry and the NGO sector to alleviate energy hardship
 progressively develop a network of community-level services to assist households in energy hardship
 create a fund for pilot programmes to improve energy efficiency for households in energy hardship
 support development of an accepted definition and indicators of energy hardship so that programmes can be
better targeted and their effectiveness measured
 form an electricity consumer advocacy council to advocate for small electricity consumers.

"This funding allows us to bring together leaders from community organisations, consumer advocates, industry
participants and government agencies to ensure energy hardship initiatives are carefully coordinated to maximise their
effectiveness," Woods said.

She said the impact of Covid-19 is likely to increase the number of people struggling with household budgets and this could
help reduce energy costs.

"This is an important piece of the puzzle and it sits alongside the other initiatives that we as a government have committed
to, we do have a desire for there to be warmer, drier homes for New Zealanders to live in, this is an important way in
which we can get the consumer voice."

But Consumer New Zealand says the government's plan does not go far enough.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said the electricity industry is a Frankenstein structure.

"The whole sector is a real mess, as a result consumers are paying far too much for electricity ... so if the actual price of
electricity was lower, some of these hardship issues wouldn't crop up in the first place."

Duffy said it is only a small step and more work needs to be done.

It is expected the energy hardship group and electricity consumer advocacy council will be up and running later this year.

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Article 3: Lake Onslow hydro project: Pros and cons’

From Nine To Noon, 9:25 am on 28 July 2020


A hydrologist says the proposed hydro project for Lake Onslow could be a centre for eco-tourism as well as a way to create
power grid stability in dry seasons.

Earl Bardsey says the benefits to the economy would be significant and would also present a chance to create a wildlife
sanctuary, with a predator-proof fence around the Onslow basin and expanded reservoir.

Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods this week said the government was looking into a recommendation by
the Interim Climate Change Committee involving hydro schemes that pump water to manage peak demand, solve the
problem of dry years for storage lakes and the irregular supply of renewable energy sources such as wind.

"It works like a battery because the stored energy in the water is released when it is used in the hydroelectric dam. This
opens up huge possibilities for cheaper electricity and increased supply," she told media at the Hayward Substation in
Wellington on Monday.

Woods predicted that if the recommendation proved viable, it would create thousands of jobs, make wholesale electricity
cheaper and help to "green the grid" by doing away with the need to use coal and gas.

The minister added it would be a significant step towards 100 percent renewable power generation.

The analysis will mostly focus on a pumped hydro storage project at Lake Onslow in Central Otago, but will also include the
assessment of smaller potential pumped storage options in the North Island, as well as other alternative technologies.

However, Bardsey says smaller schemes around North Island where most energy demand exists isn’t a solution, because
the numbers don't add up.

“The little ponds and lakes in the North Island, there’s no way you can add those together to provide you with enough
energy to take you through a dry year. In a way ideally, the Onslow geology and typography would be located in the
North Island. But we have just make use of what nature gives us.”

He wrote a research paper in 2005 floating the Onslow idea as a viable project, which he subsequently fleshed out in a
PhD thesis published last year.

“The idea is that during times of electricity high demand we will run water down from a high lake into the river and
conversely when there is plenty of water available and the power is cheaper we’ll pump water up. When we have a dry
year, there will be a reserve there available to be used.

“The actual amount that can be quite large, maybe being able to generate in excess of 1000 mega-watts and in terms of the
actual energy storage we might be looking at doubling the existing energy-storing capacity, which is about 4000 giga-watts.”

The expense of the project is justified by the expense of not being able to meet future demand, he says.

“If we’re going towards a green economy and we have our electric cars and our industrial heating from electricity and we
generate green hydrogen. If we have a dry year and all that falls over, that’s going to be expensive as well."

An expanded Onslow Lake would have multiple uses and would offer grid flexibility, he adds.

“You have to keep in mind that Onslow will have multiple uses and it can also be used in the short-term, because you’re
going to have 1000 mega-watts available to you to crank up and down at short notice to buffer further developments like
wind energy for example.

"If you put too much wind energy into the grid you run the risk of grid instability. But if you have a large buffer like Onslow
with 1000 mega-watts you can smooth out those short-term fluctuations. In addition to that it will operate all the time as
part of the seasonal hydro storage."

Environmentally, Bardsey says his original motivation for proposing the scheme was to take storage away from existing
hydro lakes which are set in soft glacial till, so the water levels going up and down each
year have significant impacts on shorelines.

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“My real hope is by taking some of the energy away from the hydro lakes and storing it an expanded Lake Onslow, which
is surrounded by rock, we’d have a much better, environmentally suitable way of handling our seasonal water storages.”

Previous reservoir projects have been criticised for the impact on freshwater and terrestrial biodiversity.

Lake Onslow is a reservoir of approximately 8sq/km, with submerged wetlands. The project may see another 8sq/km
submerged. However, he says for a business case to be successfully made, the environmental impact must be a “net-
positive” and that efforts to protect surrounding waterways and habitats could achieve this.

“There are a number of possible options. One that I’d really like to see followed up – maybe we could actually extract
those wetlands and put them onto a floating system. In other words, the wetlands are still there, but they’re converted
to floating wetland that goes up-and-down with the water. And we can even have a bigger wetland that we have at
present."

He says the endangered Teviot flathead galaxias fish, which reside in a tributary flowing into Lake Onslow, could be
protected within a special reserve. In fact, the entire Onslow Basin could also be surrounded by a predator- proof fence so it
could be managed as a wetland reserve, he says.

The government expects if the Lake Onslow project goes ahead it could create as many as 4500 jobs. Bardsey

hopes permanent jobs would also be created after the building project was completed.

“If we followed through with a protected wetland, I think that in itself would be a centre for eco-tourism, it would be well
worth looking at.”

Article 4: New Zealand's largest ever wind turbines appear in Taranaki

Robin Martin, 31 July 2020

The largest wind turbines ever erected in New Zealand are beginning to appear on the South Taranaki landscape between
Waverley and Patea.

The Waipipi Wind Farm covers 700 hectares of coastal farmland and while it's being welcomed by some, others are having
to begrudgingly accept its existence. Approaching from the north, the towering wind turbines of Tilt Renewables' Waipipi
development, first come into view before you hit Patea and are clearly visible from State Highway 3.

The project is unusual for a New Zealand wind farm in that it is being built on flat coastal land. The site of a former ironsands
mine, project manager Stewart Reid, explained that has meant paying extra attention to the towers' foundations.

"We are installing rammed aggregate piles... basically the rammed aggregate piles densify the area below the foundations to
ensure there's no liquefaction in the event of an earthquake. So they're ramming aggregate into the ground and there's about
600 to 700 piles per turbine." And, yes, in wind turbine parlance, size does matter.

"We're installing 31 Siemens Gamesa machines. They're 160m tall with a 130m diameter rotor. They are 4.3 megawatt
machines and they're the largest machines that have been installed in New Zealand. The advantage of a bigger
machine is that you need less of them, so we're consented for 48 machines here but we've only needed to install 31
for the same sized plant."

Once the foundation is finished it still takes several days to put up a turbine - which, ironically, requires perfectly still
conditions.

"We brought in a crane from Australia which has a boom of just over 115m tall. The tower goes up in six or seven lifts.
You've got three tower sections to lift and the cell, a generator and then the rotor. The three blades are assemble on the
ground and lifted in one piece, and fitted to the front of the generator."

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Stewart said Waipipi's constant 8 metres-per-second winds, access to the national grid, North Island electricity markets,
and its relative isolation made it ideal for a wind farm.

But not everyone is rapt about it.

Waverley freeing worker Fraiser Fields was going to a build a bach on a section he owns at Waipipi Beach - but not
anymore.

"It's going through so you can't do much about it. It's here, it's coming up very shortly.

"You can't do much about these things in this country. They seem to steamroll you somehow eventually, don't they. So,
I'll sell this if I can."

About 10 kilometres of underground cable has been laid at Waipipi to take power from the wind turbines to an onsite
substation before its transferred to the Waverley substation - and the national grid - via series of single- pole pylons.

Former Waverley resident Mike Connell challenged the consents for the pylons, which pass in front of his old house, but
he eventually gave up the fight when it got too expensive.

"So we just backed off and we walked away from Waverley and we're actually in Patea now. I wasn't going to sit there and
look at the powerlines through my front lounge window."

One person not complaining about the development is South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon.

"We're all about renewable energy and so these 31 windmills will be very good for renewable energy and a $277 million
spend I mean that's huge in our district and there's a lot of employment with it. So yeah, it's a very positive thing for us."

Nixon accepts wind farm developments are polarising and while some people love the look of them others won't go near
them.

The 133 megawatt wind farm - enough to power about 65,000 homes - is employing about 100 people during its
construction and will have a permanent staff of about six.

It's due to begin generating electricity later this year and will tap into the national grid early 2021.

Article 5: Tiwai Point smelter closure: What happens to the electricity sector

Leith Huffadine, 9 July 220

The news that Rio Tinto is set to wind down the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter means change for New Zealand's
electricity sector.

The smelter makes up 13 percent of the country's electricity consumption, so when its contract with Meridian Energy is
up in August 2021, the impact will be widely felt. So what does the industry and experts on it think will happen?

Electricity Authority chief executive James Stevenson-Wallace said the future of Tiwai had caused significant uncertainty
for the electricity sector.

"Now that Rio Tinto has confirmed the termination of their contract, we are keen to avoid further uncertainty for the
industry as to how NZAS will approach the wind-down of operations. Given that Tiwai represents 13 percent of total
electricity consumption, we expect the decision to impact on the timing of new build plans by generators and a range of
operational decisions."

And Contact Energy has already indicated an example of that. Chief executive Mike Fuge said it would put off investing in its
Tauhara geothermal power station, a project it in June described as "shovel ready".

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"Tauhara remains a fantastic project, however it is prudent to press pause for now. We need to factor in the impact of
Covid-19 and the potential exit of NZAS and get a clearer picture of demand," Fuge said.

Stevenson-Wallace said: "From a transmission perspective, previous announcements by Transpower to address

transmission constraints in the lower South Island will support greater capacity to export electricity from Southland should
the aluminium operations cease.

"The exit of the smelter will mean that the transmission costs that they pay will be spread across all other transmission
customers. The exit will also free up electricity that can be applied to other users which should contribute to short-
term downward pressure on power prices after operations have ceased."

What Transpower says

Transpower general manager of grid development John Clarke said the company would continue to work on projects
that could speed up the delivery of surplus renewable electricity northward.

"This is a priority for the organisation and work is already underway with the decision last week to complete the Clutha
Upper-Waitaki Lines Project at a cost of around $100 million.

"Transpower will now assess whether there is an opportunity to progress this work even more quickly than currently
planned.

"Transpower will also work with the electricity industry on other improvements needed to realise the full economic
benefits to New Zealand from the surplus electricity. This work would cost another somewhere between $500-
600m."

Stuff has previously reported that Transpower estimated it could take between five and eight years to complete work to
efficiently distribute surplus power across the whole country.

'Fundamental shift'

Genesis Energy chief executive officer Marc England said the closure of Tiwai Point marked a "fundamental shift in the New
Zealand electricity market".

"As a predominantly North Island generator, Genesis expects the immediate effects to be felt more by the larger South
Island generators," England said. We see benefit for the New Zealand electricity market through the removal of a
significant source of uncertainty”.

In the medium to long term, this presents a potential opportunity to accelerate electrification of industrial processes,
especially in the South Island. "As for all generators, we will need to further assess what the closure means for our
generation portfolio long term.

More renewable electricity 'not that easy'

Massey University professor Emeritus Ralph Sims said in comments provided by the Science Media Centre that in a perfect
world, closing Tiwai Point should "theoretically result in greater shares of renewable electricity, a reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions, and cheaper electricity prices for all New Zealanders".

"However, it's not that easy," Sims said.

"We have an electricity market largely driven by profit motives; an emphasis on increasing supply rather than reducing
demand from increased energy efficiency; and the challenge of designing an electricity system that will be reliable even
when higher shares of variable wind and solar generation drop, or in dry seasons when hydro lakes are low...

"So, will New Zealand electricity consumers reap the economic and environmental benefits of having cheaper hydro
power suddenly becoming available once the smelter starts winding down? I have my doubts”.

But Massey University's Dr Anna Berka said the closure would result in a surplus of capacity, leading to "downwards
pressure on market prices".

"In terms of emissions, this may be actually be a good development as the plant has been using up a lot of our low-cost
hydrocapacity and this might let us close down Huntly sooner," the lecturer in management, entrepreneurship and
innovation said.
16
Longer-term upside

In addition, University of Auckland adjunct professor Harvey Weake said in comments provided by the Science Media Centre:
"While this will be a tough period for Southland, I see longer-term upside for New Zealand around a substantive gain in
electricity storage.

"As New Zealand progresses towards 90+ percent renewable power from a mix of incremental geothermal and wind, New
Zealand must increase electricity storage capacity to meet both short and medium term interruptible supply to cover both
windless periods and droughts."

The most effective option would be having the Huntly coal power station as a standby, but it would eventually be retired,
the adjunct professor in the faculty of engineering said. Then, the country would have to "build another high elevation lake
of around one billion tonnes of water, or build some other electricity storage facility to hold the equivalent of 500MW over
100 days. Either way, the solution will be very expensive," Weake said.

"This announcement effectively allows this decision to be deferred for a couple of decades as Manapouri becomes more
integrated with New Zealand's strategic electricity storage."

Article 6: New Zealand wants to build a 100% renewable electricity grid, but massive infrastructure is not the
best option
July 30, 2020
Janet Stephenson
Associate Professor and Director, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago

A proposed multibillion-dollar project to build a pumped hydro storage plant could make New Zealand’s electricity grid 100%
renewable, but expensive new infrastructure may not be the best way to achieve this.

New Zealand’s electricity generation is already around 80% renewable, with just over half of that provided by hydro power.
The government is now putting NZ$30 million towards investigating pumped hydro storage, which uses cheap electricity to
pump river or lake water into an artificial reservoir so that it can be released to generate electricity when needed, especially
during dry years when hydro lakes are low.

The response to the announcement was mostly enthusiastic - not least because of the potential for local jobs. But whether it
is the best solution needs careful evaluation. There are many realisable changes to electricity demand, and New Zealand
should consider other, potentially cheaper options that deliver more efficient use of electricity.

Promise of a purely renewable grid

Electricity is mooted to play a major role in achieving New Zealand’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To
support the government’s plan to accelerate the electrification of the transport and industrial heating sectors, generation
will need to grow by around 70% by 2050, all from renewable sources.

Worldwide, pumped hydro energy storage is seen as a promising option to support cheap and secure 100%
renewable electricity grids. New Zealand’s analysis will mainly focus on one particular lake, Lake Onslow. If it stacks
up, it would be the biggest infrastructure project since the “think big” era of the 1980s. But at an estimated NZ$4
billion, the cost would also be massive and the project would likely face opposition on ecological grounds.

Such a scheme would be a step tow rds the government’s target of 100% renewable electricity generation by 2035 and fit
with the overall goal of New Zealand achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. It would also solve the problem
conventional hydropower plants face during dry years, when water storage runs low and fossil- fuelled power stations have
to kick in to fill the gap.

But the possible closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter would free up around 13% of renewable electricity supply for
flexible use. This alone raises the question whether a pumped storage development on this scale is necessary.

17
Changing supply and demand

Getting to 100% renewables and achieving a 70% increase in supply in the next 30 years will mainly come from new wind
and solar generation (both now the cheapest options for electricity generation) as well as some new geothermal. Major
new hydro dams are unlikely because of their significant environmental impacts.

As a result, electricity supplies will become increasingly variable, dependent on the vagaries of sun, wind and river flows.
This creates a growing challenge for matching supply with demand, especially if hydro lakes are low. Last year, the Interim
Climate Change Commission concluded New Zealand could get to 93% renewable generation by 2035 under current market
conditions. But it warned the final few per cent would require significant overbuilding of renewable generation that would
rarely be used.

It suggested the most cost-effective solution would be to retain some fossil-fuelled generation as a backup for the few
occasions when demand overshoots supply. At the same time it recommended a detailed investigation into pumped storage
as a potential solution for dry years.

New Zealand already has more than 100 conventional hydropower stations supplying renewable electricity. Electricity demand
— the collective consumption of all businesses, organisations and households — is also changing. Households and businesses
are switching to electric vehicles. Farm irrigation is becoming widespread and creates new demand peaks in rural areas. Heat
pumps are increasingly used for both heating and cooling. These all create new patterns of demand.

And households aren’t just consuming power. More and more people are installing solar generation and feeding surplus
back into the grid or storage batteries. Local community energy initiatives are starting to emerge.

New markets are developing where businesses can be paid to temporarily reduce their demand at times when supply is not
keeping up. It is only a matter of time before such demand response mechanisms become commonplace for households,
too. In the near future, housing collectives could become virtual power plants, and electric vehicles could feed into the grid
when supply is stressed.

Cheaper options with added health benefits

So, with more reliance on sun, wind and water, electricity supply will become more variable. At the same time, patterns
of demand will become more complex, but will have more potential to be adjusted quickly to match supply, on time
scales of minutes, hours or days. The big problem lies with winter peaks when demand is at its highest, and dry years
when supply is at its lowest – especially when these coincide. At these times the potential mismatch between demand
and supply can last for weeks.

The current solutions being mooted are to increase the security of supply, either with fossil-powered generation or
pumped hydro storage. But there are options on the demand side New Zealand should consider. New Zealand houses are
typically cold because they are poorly insulated and waste a lot of heat. Despite relatively new insulation standards for new
houses and subsidies for retrofitting older houses, our standards fall well below most developed countries.

We can take inspiration from Europe where new buildings and retrofits are required to meet near-zero energy building
standards. By investing in upgrading the national housing stock to something closer to European standards, we could
achieve a significant drop in peak demand as well as additional benefits of lower household heating costs and better
health.

Efficient lighting is another under-explored solution, with recent research suggesting a gradual uptake of energy- efficient
lighting could reduce the winter evening peak demand (6pm to 8pm) by at least 9% by 2029, with the bonus of lower power
bills for households.
Such solutions to the supply-demand mismatch could be much cheaper than a single think-big project, and they come with
added benefits for health. Alongside the NZ$30 million being put into investigating pumped hydro storage, I suggest it is
time to develop a business case for demand-side solutions.
18
Article 7: Beyond gas and oil: Can alternative energy save Taranaki?

Robin Martin, 2 June 2019

Taranaki workers who once earned six-figure salaries are having to rethink their lives after the government axed future
offshore oil and gas exploration. Could alternative energy prove their saviour? Money never used to be an issue for
geologist Gary Ammundsen. He was a "mudlogger" - responsible for analysing the content of drilling muds - and he
pocketed a six figure salary.

"I was making about $110,000 to $120,000 a year for only working 180 days. The stewards out there, the people who made
your beds, they started on $100,000 on the offshore rigs. "People like welders, who are generally well paid, they were
leaving the welding trade to come and make our beds and do the laundry for us out there."

But then the oil price went south and Ammundsen found himself out of a job. "I was working for the Australian branch of an
international corporation after the New Zealand branch closed down. Then I was made redundant. I spent six months
desperately looking for [oil and gas] work, but because 90 percent of the people in my profession worldwide were doing the
same thing, there was none."

Ammundsen is far from alone. He's one of many Taranaki oil and gas workers who earned, or are still collecting, handsome
salaries and are now facing a new reality after the government's decision. But do new technologies such as hydrogen and
wave power offer hope for the energy sector in Taranaki?

Taranaki is New Zealand's only oil and gas producing region and more than 20 fields - both on and offshore - are currently in
production. According to the region's development agency Venture Taranaki, in 2013 the sector generated 11,000 jobs
nationally, of which approximately 7000 were in Taranaki. About 4300 workers were directly employed in the oil and gas
sector in Taranaki.

Unsurprisingly, oil and gas lobby group the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ)
has been fiercely critical of the exploration ban. It commissioned a New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report
which found the ban could cost the Taranaki economy $40 billion by 2050.

The report predicted annual household incomes in Taranaki would drop by $21,000 and the region would shed up to 6
percent of its jobs, many of them highly skilled. Anecdotally, the number oil and gas jobs had dropped significantly before
the government's announcement, but that didn't stop the chair of the Taranaki Mayoral Forum, Neil Holdom, describing
the decision as a "kick in the guts" to the region's economy.

The New Plymouth mayor reminded anyone who would listen that it was Taranaki gas that "kept the lights on" around the
country, and he demanded to see a detailed plan of how the region would be supported in the transition to a carbon
neutral economy.

The oil and gas sector contributes $1.5bn to Taranaki's GDP and makes up 40 percent of the regional economy. Off the
back of the sector, the province also boasts the second highest regional GDP per capita in the country at about $68,500
(behind only Wellington).

Company logos such as Todd Energy, OMV and Methanex are common place at Taranaki events such as the world music
festival Womad or emblazoned on community facilities such as the New Plymouth aquatic centre. Holdom, a former
journalist and communications executive at lines company Powerco, is still smarting from the decision to end offshore
exploration.

"My view is that eventually we'll go to a zero carbon economy, but at the moment for example, Fonterra has got coal-fired
plants in the North Island making milk powder. Now if we converted every one of those to gas straightaway we could reduce
our national emissions by four or five percent.

"What the government has done is pick on a fuel, for whatever reasons they have, and now industry is going what other
winners are you going to pick?

"My view is that you set a price for carbon and then leave your options open and you'll choose the options that are most
efficient, because the goal is to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and methane going into the atmosphere, not to be
picking individual industries and fuel types that are going to work best."

19
Holdom says if it was his decision he'd overturn the ban tomorrow - not that he is expecting the government to.

"I think they've got too much political capital invested in it and while it is not something I support, ie the policy, we've
moved on from that. There's no point in having the argument. They're the government, you know, they've got the big G
and what they say goes.

"We just have to work out, now that's off the cards, what do we do now? We just have to work within the
constraints that we've got and try and solve the problems that the whole world is trying to solve."

Ammundsen says the decision to end offshore oil and gas exploration means his chances of working in the sector in New
Zealand again are virtually zero.

"Overseas or in some other geology there's a good possibility. Good as in at least 50 percent. In Taranaki, no. Why would
anybody bother drilling in Taranaki now? The government has indicated its hostile to oil and gas, so as long as that's there
[the ban], the oil companies and the people with money to invest in oil are going to look elsewhere - where they've got
open arms and deep pockets."

Not everyone is so pessimistic about the future. Proponents of geothermal, hydrogen, wind and solar energy are all looking
to help fill the void as gas supplies dwindle. Many of them attended a glitzy $400-a-ticket Just Transitions Summit in New
Plymouth this month, which featured Hollywood A-listers James and Suzy Cameron and Australian rock royalty Peter
Garrett as keynote speakers.

The summit's aim was to help plot a way forward for Taranaki.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - who has described climate change as this generation's nuclear free moment - reminded the
more than 550 delegates that the offshore exploration ban was designed to help New Zealand meet its commitment to be
carbon neutral by 2050 and achieve its target of 100 percent of electricity being generated from renewable energy sources
by 2035.

Ardern acknowledged the transition would be challenging for Taranaki, but said the province wasn't about to be thrown
under a bus and the government was there to support it. She went on to announce the latest instalment in that support -
$27 million to establish a clean energy centre in Taranaki, and a further $20 million for clean energy research.

Ardern later told media the National New Energy Development centre would employ 45 people and help create new
businesses from emerging energy technologies.

"The goal has to be - how do we turn those oil and gas jobs into jobs in hydrogen ... jobs in wind energy, jobs in tidal? So
what we are doing here is trying to commercialise some of those new opportunities and make sure we keep those high
wage jobs."

Speaking shortly after the announcement, Pepanz chief executive Cameron Madgwick - who attended the summit as a
delegate - had to admit the clean energy centre was a positive initiative. "It's good to see some funding come into the
province. It's obviously a relatively small amount compared to the contribution of natural gas to the province and New
Zealand, but it's a good start."

Madgwick had one caveat. "We'd like the new energy centre to look at the uses of natural gas that can be lower
emissions, because of course there are 400,000 New Zealanders who rely on that fuel."

Holdom was even more upbeat. "It's a really good start and it's really good to hear the prime minister talking about
building a partnership and wanting to support us as we look to maintain the standard of living ... which is fundamentally
what this is all about."

Over the past 12 months the region has held a series of workshops designed to create a Taranaki 2050 Roadmap
focusing on sectors key to its future, including energy, tourism, the Māori economy and food and fibre. Justine Gilliland held
the government-funded post of general manager for transitional economy in New Plymouth and is now chief executive of
Venture Taranaki. Gilliland says the Taranaki 2050 Roadmap and a parallel Hydrogen Roadmap are about the province taking
control of its own destiny.

"It's about thinking about the transition over 30 years … so we're going on a journey here, nothing is going to shut down
tomorrow. It's about how we make that transition over time and there will be new forms of energy that we'll be able to
invest in and we've got amazing skills in depth in Taranaki that we can draw on to actually help New Zealand make that
20
transition."

One of those businesses looking to expand into clean energy is New Plymouth engineering company EHL Group. It has a
background in providing hydraulic systems to the transport and oil and gas sectors, and has developed a first-of-its-kind device
which generates electricity from wave power.

Lead designer Derek Shotbolt has spent two years testing the device in Hawaii and is excited about returning to the islands
to test a full-sized 15-metre high version, but first the company is waiting to find out if an application for $6 million from the
Provincial Growth Fund has been successful.

EHL co-owner Peter Jannings says the company needs the money to match the contribution of its US joint venture
partner. He reckons wave power has the potential to create a lot of jobs for people in Taranaki.

"We have the skilled staff here now working in the petrochemical industry, the contracting businesses that are doing the
engineering, the consultancy companies, the electrical design companies. They're all here based in Taranaki so those
companies can all play a big part in developing this product. We have a cable manufacturer here.

New Hydrogen venture launched

A joint venture in Taranaki is hoping to unlock the potential of hydrogen energy as a transport fuel in New Zealand
while at the same time producing ammonia urea fertiliser with a zero-carbon footprint.

Fertiliser giant Ballance Agri-Nutrients has signed a $50 million deal with cleantech company Hiringa Energy which will
drive the project. Ballance Agri-Nutrients produces the bulk of its 260,000 tonnes of ammonia urea fertiliser at its South
Taranaki plant.

As part of the process it strips hydrogen from methane gas, creating a massive 420,000 tonnes of carbon emissions
in the process. In what is being described as an industrial-scale trial, it's planned to build up to four 160-metre-high
wind turbines at Kapuni to begin tackling those emissions.

Co-founder of Hiringa Energy Andrew Clennett explained how.

"We'll take that 16 megawatts of electricity and we'll be able to run the plant for Ballance and we'll also be making
hydrogen - 'green hydrogen' - which we can then feed into that plant to make more of the product [ammonia urea],
and also as we grow our transport market for hydrogen we'll be able to divert that to help decarbonise say the heavy
transport sector that we've been working on for a number of years now."

"Green hydrogen" is created by using renewable electricity to split hydrogen from water using electrolysis. It can be used in
industrial processes or in fuel cells used to power electric vehicles.

Site manager Glen Johnson said its 125 staff, whose jobs were threatened by dwindling gas resources, were feeling
upbeat about the development.

"A project like this is really exciting because it leverages the existing skills and capabilities that we have and really
extends those and brings some new skills into the province as well. So I think this is an exciting opportunity for my
team but also an exciting opportunity for our community."

Mr Clennett said Ballance was the perfect partner for Hiringa because initially it would take all the hydrogen produced
at Kapuni while the market for the fuel in heavy transport evolved. It was also a natural transport hub, he said.

"Approximately 40 trucks come to this site a day and we're just a couple of kilometres from a major dairy factory that has 25
trucks coming and going everyday collecting milk and so immediately we are able to make fuel for the immediate transport
market from renewable energy right here in South Taranaki."

The project would initially generate enough "green hydrogen" to supply about 300 trucks or 6000 cars per year, said Mr
Clennett. Or to put it another way, reduce the equivalent amount of CO2 emission as taking 2600 cars off the roads.

21
Ballance chief executive Mark Wynne said the joint venture partners were taking a conservative approach. "Well, initially
it's very small. It will produce the equivalent of about 7000 tonnes of urea.

That's about 1 percent of our total production, but the purpose is really to test the technology, prove the commercial
model and open all the opportunities for commercial scale up from there."

Mr Wynne said Ballance was conscious of its carbon footprint and playing a long game.

"We believe that through regenerative energy coming from wind and hydrolysing the water we can get zero- carbon
footprint hydrogen and that will set us up very well into the future when carbon taxes start to increasingly bite into our cost
structure."

At first the project will offset about 30,000 tonnes of carbon emissions or about 8 percent of the company's current
carbon footprint.

Hydrogen vehicles will have first dibs on fuel produced at Kapuni and it's envisaged that eventually new production
facilities will need to be built for Ballance to source the hydrogen it needs to produce zero-carbon fertiliser.

Hiringa Energy co-founder Kathy Clennett said the joint venture was an example of what the future could look like.

"This project is a great example of retaining jobs and transitioning jobs. This new technology that we're introducing here
is the seed of an energy hub at Kapuni and also a transport hub at Kapuni that's powered by zero-emission energy."

It's hoped the hydrogen production facility at Kapuni - which could employ up to 100 people during construction
- will be operational in 2021.

22
Section 4: Assessment schedule
Achievement standard 91431: Analyse aspects of a contemporary geographic issue
The future of New Zealand’s electricity production
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement
The student analyses aspects of a
contemporary geographic issue. This
means that the student:
 explains the nature of the issue of
electricity production in New Zealand,
including explaining the spatial
dimension and effect on people and
the environment of the issue
 explains how a range of people’s
values and perceptions of electricity
production have led to their
responses. This range could include
individuals and/or groups of people
 proposes a suitable course of action
that the government could consider
in relation to electricity production
and justifies why this particular
course of action would be an
appropriate solution for the future of
New Zealand’s electricity production.
The justification must include
consideration of at least one
alternative
 supports their analysis with relevant
evidence, including use of geographic
terminology and concept(s).
Final grades will be decided using professional judgement based on a holistic examination of the evidence provided
against the criteria in the Achievement Standard.
Version 2
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement
with Merit
The student analyses, in depth, aspects
of a contemporary geographic issue. This
means that the student:
 explains the nature of the issue of
electricity production in New Zealand,
including explaining the spatial
dimension and effect on people and
the environment of the issue
 explains in detail how a range of
peoples’ values and perceptions of
the issue have led to their responses.
Details include some supporting
explanation of peoples’ values and
perceptions and how these have
influenced their response to the issue
 proposes a suitable course of action
that the government could consider in
relation to electricity production, and
justifies in detail why the preferred
course of action is an appropriate
solution. The justification must
include the consideration of
alternatives in some detail
 supports their in-depth analysis with a
range of relevant evidence, including
use of geographic terminology and
concept(s).
23
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement
with Excellence
The student analyses comprehensively
aspects of a contemporary geographic
issue. This means that the student:
 explains the nature of the issue of
electricity production in New Zealand,
including explaining the spatial
dimension and the effect on people
and the environment of the issue
 fully explains how a range of peoples’
values and perceptions of the issue
have led to their responses. This
includes detailed supporting evidence
of peoples’ values and perceptions
and how these have influenced their
response to the issue
 proposes a suitable course of action
that the government could consider
in relation to electricity production,
and fully justifies why the preferred
course of action is an appropriate
solution. A full justification includes
an in-depth evaluation of alternative
options that could be considered for
the future of energy production in
New Zealand. The response uses
clarity of argument and demonstrates
holistic understanding of the issue
 shows insight in their analysis and
integrates geographic terminology
and concepts. The student supports
their analysis comprehensively with a
range of relevant evidence.