Read our new Electric Homes and Vehicles report
Ensuring more electric vehicles can run on New Zealand-made energy needs to be seen as an issue of national security and dual fuel peakers that can run on gas or diesel can help solve the dry year issue while also improving diesel storage, unlike the LNG import terminal.
Right now, diesel prices are ramping up and some are worried we won't have enough supply to keep the economy going. We have a set amount of fuel storage in New Zealand, but if we had more EVs in the fleet we would need less of that for petrol and could devote more of it to diesel. While the majority of light vehicle fuel consumption is petrol, 1/3 is still diesel from most of our utes and vans, so electrifying these light commercial vehicles would also significantly reduce our current diesel demand. Taking both together - the reduced diesel demand from easier-to-electrify light vehicles, and the increased storage capacity from reduced petrol demand - we'd increase our diesel storage capacity significantly for our harder-to-electrify sectors.
If all our light transport fleet was electrified, it would equate to 37.5 days of diesel storage.
If one third of our fleet was electric, as it is in Norway following a decade's worth of policy support, that would give us an additional eight days of storage.
At our current rate of EV adoption, with just 2% of the fleet electric, we have just 0.5 days.
Fuel security is also relevant when it comes to the decision to build an LNG import terminal. The primary reason it has been suggested is to solve the dry year issue - although it is also clearly about keeping gas users hooked and letting the gas industry play for time. But our portfolio approach can kill two birds with one stone.
Along with rapid build out of large-scale renewables, mass adoption of rooftop solar and batteries on homes, farms and businesses to keep our hydro lakes full, and assistance for gas users to electrify, we also believe we should invest in dual fuel peakers that can run on gas or diesel and offer added diesel storage.
.png)
Rather than an investment of $1-$2.7 billion into LNG for no added fuel security, an investment of around $400-$800 million could add 120 million litres of additional fuel storage (11-12 days). This would come at a much lower fixed cost than the LNG terminal but at a higher fuel cost and it would still push electricity prices down in the same way by removing the cost of dry year risk in electricity bills. And if we build those renewables quickly enough, we may not need to use it.
When Mike Casey bought his house near Cromwell, it came with gas bottles on the side of the home for water and an expensive diesel system for the underfloor heating. He replaced both of them with a Steibel Eltron system and it's been saving him money ever since. As technical manager Bhawesh Singh told him at the Electrify Queenstown conference, there has been a big influx in enquiries from homes looking to get off the molecules and onto electrons.
Read moreDownloadConfidence that cutting regulations to make solar power more accessible - won't jeopardise people's safety. A new Regulation Ministry reports laid out a potential blueprint to legalise plug-in solar and reduce the time and cost of panel installation. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.
The burgeoning demand for solar was also a chance to address a mismatch between the numbers of training opportunities available and young people searching for work, Casey said. "The mums of New Zealand are telling me that there's not enough apprenticeships for their kids and the solar installers of New Zealand are telling me there's not enough trained people."
Read moreDownload
