Energy in New Zealand 2023 shows renewable electricity generation increased to 87%

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 Mike Hayward, Manager Markets, Digital, Data & Insights, at MBIE.

“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” Mike 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.” Mike Hayward said.

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 3 quarters of 2022

3 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