All-blackout
9 Aug 2024
Written By Bryan Leyland
New Zealand has major problems with its power supply. There are three underlying reasons: the weather, a flawed electricity market and a drive for ‘net zero’.
Sixty-five percent of New Zealand’s electricity is provided by hydropower, and the remainder by geothermal, gas, coal, wind and some solar. In a dry year, hydro’s ability to deliver falls away, and we lose about 10% of our generation. In the past, we always tried to have the reservoirs full by the end of summer to guard against this possibility. But, when we switched to an electricity market, this was forgotten.
This year, we failed to refill the reservoirs, and levels are now unusually low, and declining fast. They could bottom out if it does not rain heavily in the next month or so.
The ability of our fossil fuel power stations to step into the gap has been severely restricted. We used to get 20% of our electricity from gas-fired power stations, but six years ago, as part of their decarbonisation policy, the previous government banned further exploration, and we are now desperately short of fuel. The new government is encouraging new exploration efforts, but it will be too little too late.
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/new-zealand-faces-rolling-blackouts
