9. Question No. 9—Energy and ResourcesBARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country) to the Minister of Energy and ResourcesQuestion No. 9—Energy and Resources9. BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country) to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Why is the Government spending $100 million on a feasibility study for Lake Onslow pumped hydro and other energy storage options and has she seen the report commissioned by Meridian Energy and Contact Energy that identifies a large South Island pumped storage facility as the highest-cost option to achieve a 100 percent renewable 2030 generation goal?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): Thank you Mr Speaker. In answer to the first part of the question the Government has allocated $30 million to the first stage of the NZ Battery Project and $70 million is set aside in contingency for stage two. Lake Onslow as recommended by the Interim Climate Change Committee for further investigation is the base case for the NZ Battery Project but against this other pumped hydro options and comparator technologies are being investigated. It is critical that we consider solutions to the dry year problem as part of New Zealand's transition to a zero carbon future. The alternative is that we continue to rely on expensive fossil fuels for dry year storage as we did this year when hydro lakes had some of the lowest inflows on record. As the member knows this reliance on fossil fuels resulted in very high wholesale electricity prices. The New Zealand Battery Project is focused on finding a solution that will allow us to unleash New Zealand's abundant and affordable renewable energy sources. In answer to the second part of the question yes.Barbara Kuriger: Will she halt the Government's $100 million Infrastructure Reference Group shovel-ready investment in the pumped hydro feasibility study now that a freely available report identifies pumped hydro as the most time-consuming and least efficient way to address dry year risk?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Let's be very clear: the report that we are referring to is a report commissioned by Contact Energy and Meridian. I don't think anyone would be surprised that existing market players are promoting and investigating views to support their commercial and strategic objectives given that the outcome of the project could be a major disruptor to the status quo. But our job as a responsible Government is to ensure that the broad interests of New Zealand are fully investigated. And furthermore to the reason we won't be abandoning a very important piece of work required for New Zealand's future is that even the CEO of Meridian as recently as this morning in a meeting with the Minister of Finance and myself told us that he did not think it was Onslow or hydrogen; it could be both.Barbara Kuriger: Will she halt the $100 million investment in the pumped hydro feasibility study in light of reports that both WEL Networks and Meridian Energy will invest in battery capacity on their own accord without the Government having to spend a cent?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I think the questions that the member is asking cut to the reason why when we came into Government there was absolutely no planning for how we would have renewable plans for dry year storage. The simple Leave it to the market and it will serve New Zealand well" has not panned out. It has resulted in high wholesale prices when we do encounter a dry year. I would point that member to the comprehensive piece of work that the NZ Battery Project is that it is not only looking at pumped hydro at Onslow it is also looking at pumped hydro schemes around the country and other locations—but it is also looking at comparative technologies such as hydrogen such as batteries. So we welcome this work that individual commercial entities are feeding into the project. It is high time that New Zealand did investigate this real issue. It's just lucky our Government got on with it.Barbara Kuriger: Will she seek guidance from the Minister of Finance to see whether pumped hydro is a higher fiscal priority than the $14 billion for Auckland light rail or $6 billion for Wellington rapid transit so that she can be sure New Zealand can afford to fund her pumped hydro scheme before she spends $100 million investigating it?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I almost on a daily basis seek the guidance of the incredibly wise Minister of Finance. We all in our caucus do. I'd like to reassure the member—SPEAKER: Order! Order! I think that might be going a bit far.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: It's irony. Do you want me to withdraw and apologise?SPEAKER: Well I don't think it's absolutely irony but it might you know—one might say there's a danger of misleading the House."