New Zealand

• How is the energy used

  40% of all energy is from renewables - this mostly generates the electricity (80% comes from renewables with a target of 90% by 2025). An increasing amount of geothermal is contributing to direct industrial power and heating

  60% comes from oil and gas. This mostly goes towards fuelling transport and space heating in homes and offices
• Physical geography enabling HEP

  high rainfall combined with deep glaciated valleys, lakes and high discharge rivers provide the perfect setting for HEP
• Examples of HEP


  Manapouri power station on the west coast of the South Island and Tongariro (two power stations) and Waikato (nine power stations) on the North Island
• Physical geography enabling wind power

  the westerlies (prevailing winds from the west towards the eat) are particularly strong especially in Southern Hemipshere where they strike New Zealand. Due to the direction of the mountains the west coast lies on the windward side. North Island is in the transition zone between the trade winds and the westerlies.

  Located in the path of the roaring forties (between 40° and 50° South)
• Examples of wind power

  Te Uku - 28 turbines located in Waikato, Te Āpiti, West Wind, Mill Creek - 26 turbines, Brooklyn wind turbines. Previous 3 all located in wellington

  White Hill - 29 wind turbines, first wind farm built on south island
• Physical geography enabling geothermal energy

  New Zealand is located on a plate boundary (destructive) meaning it has volcanoes and magma coming up through the rock. It lies on the pacific ring of fire. (Western Pacific and Eastern Australian plates)
• Examples of geothermal energy

  23 known geothermal reserves in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. 7 of these provide >15% of New Zealand electricity supply. Zone in central North Island.

  Ngatamarika resevoir extends >7km and is more than 1km thick

  Nga Awa Purua power plant opened in 2010
• Examples of gas and oil

  Over 1,000 exploration wells drilled to date. Largest gas field Maui located offshore produced 4,000PJs (PetaJoules)

  Kapuni gas condensate field offshore in Taranaki assessed at 350PJs. Natural gas from costal Taranaki Basin, oil reserves adjacent to its gas fields.
• Physical geography enabling gas and oil

  New Zealand has its own oil and gas reserves. It had seepages (places where oil seeps out of the ground) on the New Plymouth foreshore found in 1865. New technologies like seismic profiling and deep rotary drilling allowed new reserves to be discovered