New Zealand:

Geothermal Continues to Power New Zealand

The New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has today released the annual Energy in New Zealand report.

The report details the supply, transformation and use of all types of energy in New Zealand and contains facts and figures on energy prices, international comparisons and information on oil and gas reserves.

Last year geothermal energy in New Zealand produced 5843.51 GWh net electricity generation, a 10% jump between 2001 and 2012. Geothermal contributes 51% of the countries renewable energy.

The proportion of New Zealand’s primary energy supply that came from renewable resources was 37% in 2012. It is the third highest in the OECD after
Norway which is second and Iceland, which is first, according to the latest data available from the International Energy Agency. This is due to the high levels of hydro and geothermal energy used for electricity generation.

The contribution of renewable sources to primary energy supply decreased in 2012 to 37%, from 39% in 2011.  This contribution fell because of low hydro supply in 2012, while other sources of energy supply increased over the year. However, geothermal stepped up with a year-on-year increase of 1.3%.

Energy in New Zealand 2013 [2.7 MB PDF]