This communication should have been sent to you weeks ago because that is when I first saw it. Would you mind asking the Minister whether he would consider introducing legislation to allow feed-in-tariffs for generating electricity from small-scale, renewable energy sources?
I'd like to draw his attention to this article.
"NZ can lead world in renewable energy says expert
An internationally renowned energy expert believes New Zealand could generate all its electricity from renewable sources within twenty years.
"I have no doubt that with the right political will and some policy changes, New Zealand could lead the world in renewable energy and be 100 per cent renewable by 2025," said Dr. Benjamin Sovacool, Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore.
Dr Sovacool is backing the newly formed REFIT-NZ, a
community based organisation aiming to educate New Zealanders about measures the rest of the world is adopting to deal with problems around security
of energy supply and rising power bills.
REFIT-NZ promotes a renewable energy policy called the
Feed-in Tariff (FIT), which if adopted, would make it easier and cheaper for New Zealanders to generate more of their own electricity from smallscale
renewable sources like solar and wind power."
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0905/S00044.htm
Regards
Graeme
Yesterday, I received this reply:
Thank you for your letter of 4 June 2009 and attached information relating to feed-in-tariffs to facilitate investment in renewable energy.
By way of background, the Government Policy Statement on Electricity Governance includes the following section:
Purchase of Surplus generation by retailers
1. The (Electricity) Commission should ensure reasonable terms and conditions in contracts for purchase of small electricity surpluses by local retailers from generators with generation units capable of generating up to 40,000 kWh over a year. The Commission should investigate and make recommendations:
- on whether contracts should meet specified pricing principles; and
- on how contracts should require itemized billing (showing imports and exports) by 2009.
2. The Commission should review contracts from time to time to ensure that they remain up-to-date with current market issues.
To facilitate the sale of energy from small-scale generators into networks, the Electricity Commission has developed model contracts for generators and for retailers buying the energy. Information about these contracts can be found on the Electricity Commission website at:
http://www.electricitycommission.govt.n ... tail/model
The New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy outlines a number of actions underway to encourage small-scale generation, including work to support suppliers and installers of distributed generation. This includes a proposal to make recommendations on additional policies and programmes, including consideration of possible specific economic incentives for encouraging additional uptake of distributed generation, by the end of 2010.
More information can be found online at:
http://www.eeca.govt.nz/about/national- ... ystem.html
The government does not have a particular opinion or position on feed-in-tariffs (FITs). FITs have both strengths and weaknesses and a detailed cost-benefit analysis would be needed to ascertain whether there is a positive effect (and over what timeframe) in the NZ environment. FITs are essentially a subsidy provided to generators and paid by electricity consumers. Although subsidies have had considerable success in increasing the uptake of renewable and low-carbon forms of electricity generation in some countries, it has not been New Zealand’s approach to distort the market with FITs in this way. Our approach has been to introduce a price of greenhouse gas emissions into the market via an emissions trading scheme.
It is interesting to note that Contact Energy and Meridian Energy (the latter through its subsidiary “RightHouse”) have been offering “buyback” contracts for domestic generators using photovoltaic technologies.
I trust these comments will assist your understanding of the current situation.
Yours sincerely,
Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister of Energy and Resources
The links provided by the Minister don't work but it is possible to find the information he is referring to by going to the main website and clicking on the appropriate links. In the case of the Electricity Commission, links are easy to find. Just click on Operation and Development/Retail then Model. For the eeca website, I suggest Programmes then Renewable Energy.
Does anyone have comments or suggestions to make?
