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BusinessDesk investigates the energy sector, the role of Huntly, the lack of domestic gas and its impact on business and electricity prices. What it doesn't talk about, however, is the role that solar could play in the system to keep our lakes high and our prices low.
When you combine cheap electricity and the efficiency of electric machines you can make the whole economy more productive. Households can save thousands, businesses can save millions, and countries can save billions.
Our Investing in Tomorrow report showed what's on the table for New Zealand and it adds up to combined savings of $29 million per day.
So how do we keep a lid on prices?
South Australia is currently showing what cheap electricity can lead to. Low wholesale prices in the middle of the day, in large part due to so much solar in the system, are now attracting large industrial users who see an opportunity to get their hands on cheap, reliable and renewable energy.
As a recent story in Renew Economy said, "there are more than three dozen companies that have made inquiries about setting up major business in the state and connecting into the state grid, with the specific requirement to source zero emissions and low cost wind and solar. ElectraNet says the combined load of these 37 big industries amounts to astonishing 15 gigawatts, more than 10 times the current average load in the state, and five times the maximum demand. Far from killing industry, the state’s transition to renewables is sparking a rebirth."
South Australia now has one of the world's most renewable grids. New Zealand is right up there, too (although our overall energy system is not particularly renewable because around two thirds of our total energy still comes from fossil fuels), but high wholesale prices and volatility are hampering business, not attracting it.
One big difference is that New Zealand has a world-leading hydro scheme that we should be using as a battery. Currently, we burn expensive, imported fossil fuels when our lakes are low when we could instead keep those lakes topped up with more solar and batteries, something we explored in a 'Watt Now?' explainer.
More solar in the system is highly unlikely to cause any network problems until there is much higher adoption rate here and those issues have already been addressed in Australia.
It's also increasingly clear that these technologies can help defer or avoid expensive upgrades to the poles and wires, which make up around half the cost of electricity to households and are likley to make up the biggest chunk of bill increases in the coming years.
New Zealand is a decade behind Australia on solar installs. It is clear we should go as fast as we can to catch up. That will put downward pressure on prices and allow us to make better use of our existing infrastructure. And that's a good thing for industry, for consumers, and for New Zealand Inc.
Financial commentator Frances Cook uses her own story to show that that an investment in solar and an EV significantly outperforms the stock market and fellow number cruncher Nadine Higgins says that if you do it right, EVs are cheaper to run and own; EV sales have climbed to their highest level since 2022 and are closing in on 2023's numbers and Go Rentals has just invested $2.3 million in some new Tesla Model Y Premiums; the gap between energy costs of diesel vans and utes and electric vans and utes is absolutely massive; solar is also going off right now, with one installer in Otago 448% above their sales target in March; Lightforce has gone back to the Barretts with a new TV ad; Wellington mayor Andrew Little explains its electrification strategy and Hutt City Council shares data showing how its fleet has gone from dirty Toyotas to cleaner EVs; Shenzen in China has electrified its public transport and taxis and that's come with big benefits - and some challenges; and a very simple illustration of the LNG terminal.
Read moreDownloadAs Minister of energy, climate and local government, Simon Watts had a great opportunity to push the country towards cheaper, cleaner and more reliable New Zealand-made energy. And that’s why we laid down a challenge and gave him the ‘MegaWatts’ moniker last year. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey says he did some good things, like enabling more solar on farms, removing tax on solar exports, fixing onerous solar consenting requirements, putting pressure on the lines companies to pull up their socks, and getting the ball rolling on the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme. "But the LNG import terminal appears to have been a defining issue."
Read moreDownloadAfter ‘crunching the numbers’ and adding in new sources of ‘New Zealand-made energy’ to our equations, CEO Mike Casey has announced that Rewiring Aotearoa will be changing its name to Refuelling Aotearoa. There has been a huge amount of independently verified research showing electrification beats fossil fuels on economics, efficiency, emissions and energy security and that there is a huge opportunity for New Zealand to electrify, but the discovery of an infinite supply of snake oil in New Zealand has changed everything, he says.
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