According to New Zealand’s Ministry of Innovation, Business and Employment, the country added an additional 5 MW of solar capacity between June and September 2015.
The latest New Zealand Energy Quarterly states solar electricity generation was up 91.9% compared to last year’s September quarter.
The total generation from small solar panels in New Zealand in 2014 was estimated at 16 GWh, more than double the amount in 2013. Total solar generation, including both PV and thermal, remained a small proportion of renewable energy in 2014 at 0.1%
Renewable electricity generation in the land of the long white cloud made up 81.8% of New Zealand’s power production in the September quarter of 2015; a 0.1 percentage point rise from September quarter 2014 and the highest contribution since December 2013.
The electricity sector in New Zealand relies predominantly on hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly, wind energy. New Zealand’s high utilisation of renewables gives it the enviable distinction of being one of the lowest carbon dioxide emitting countries in the world per capita in relation to electricity generation.
While overall electricity demand in NZ increased 1.7% since last September quarter (residential rising 5.3%), quarterly coal-fired power generation during the September quarter was 303 GWh, which was the lowest level since the December quarter of 2013.
Production of coal in New Zealand was also down – a reduction of 14% on the previous September quarter and the lowest since 2000.
The New Zealand Energy Quarterly – September Quarter 2015 can be viewed here.
New Zealand’s national electricity transmission grid is owned, operated, and maintained by state-owned enterprise Transpower New Zealand.
According to the Sustainable Electricity Association of New Zealand (SEANZ), total cumulative grid connected solar PV installations now total over 7,700 country-wide; so solar has quite a way to go before it really gains traction in the country of around 4.5 million.
While there’s no government-led subsidies or incentives for solar power systems in New Zealand, prices of solar arrays have dropped dramatically in the past few years. Solar in NZ now provides electricity cheaper than can be sourced from the mains grid; with system outlay taken into account.
