Energy: rise of the renewables

New wind turbine towers arriving. Photo by Dave Guerin.

Most Kiwis would agree growing our use of renewable energy is a good thing. The Government has a target of 90% of electricity generation being renewable. Since 2008, the percentage of renewable energy generation has increased from 65% in 2008 to 79% in 2011.

While the big projects like windmills have got everyone's attention (see new wind turbines arriving in Wellington the other day in the picture to the right), the real story is in geothermal generation.

Looking at the new geothermal stations that have been opened, the expansion has been huge (353.3MW):

Name	Location	Field	Operator	Capacity (MW)	Commissioned
Ngatamarik	north of Taupo	Ngatamariki	Mighty River Power	82	2013
Nga Awa Purua	north of Taupo	Rotokawa	Mighty River Power	140	2010
Te Huka	north of Taupo	Tauhara	Contact Energy	23	2010
Kawerau (kA24)	Kawerau, Bay of Plenty	Kawerau	Geothermal Developments	8.3	2008
Kawerau (MRP)	Kawerau, Bay of Plenty	Kawerau	Mighty River Power	100	2008
			Total	353.3

By way of contrast, 219.2MW of wind power generating capacity has been installed over the same period. And more importantly, much like hydro electricity generation, wind has the disadvantage of the weather.