New Zealand Energy Quarterly – March 2020

March quarter

Main highlights for this quarter

• Renewable sources accounted for 81.9 per cent of electricity generation this quarter, up from a revised 80.1 per cent for the March 2019 quarter.

• Increases in hydro generation (up 2.1 per cent), wind (up 8.2 per cent) and geothermal (up 3.8 per cent) helped lift the renewable sources share of electricity generation.

• Generation from non-renewable sources declined. Generation from Gas fell 1.6 per cent on the same quarter last year. Generation from coal fell 22.6 per cent on the same quarter last year - a quarter which had historically high coal consumption.

• Nationally, the demand for electricity rose by 2.2 per cent on the previous March quarter.  Agricultural demand for electricity increased by 20 per cent to its highest level since the March quarter 2015. This was a result of dry conditions that pushed up irrigation demand.

• Because the March quarter predated NZ's level 4 lockdown, the full impact of COVID-19 on energy supply, demand, and prices will not be seen until Quarter 2.

• It seems that the only effect of COVID-19 during the March quarter was on international air travel and therefore jet fuel. Countries already affected by the pandemic slowed their international flights to NZ throughout the March quarter. That, on top of the March 19 border closure, led to a fall in international flights by 31 per cent on the previous March quarter. As such, aviation fuel use for international transport fell 12 per cent on the previous March quarter.

For more detailed data, see the relevant page:

• Electricity statistics
• Oil statistics
• Gas statistics
• Coal statistics
• Energy prices

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