11. Question No. 11—Energy and ResourcesJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) to the Minister of Energy and ResourcesQuestion No. 11—Energy and Resources11. JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Does she stand by all her answers to oral question No. 10 yesterday?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): Yes in the context in which they were given.Jonathan Young: So when the Minister said yesterday this Government is intent on building a resilient energy system with more resilient forms of renewable energy." how many megawatts of new renewable generation will be needed to reliably replace coal gas and diesel generation?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As we've traversed many times in this House the Transpower report makes it really clear that we roughly need to by 2050 double the amount of electricity generation in this country. That equates to a very achievable target of around the equivalent of 4.5 wind farms per year. I would point that member to the very good decision that Genesis Energy have made in recent weeks to build a 100-megawatt wind farm in Taranaki as a sign of the good things to come.Jonathan Young: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. This question was I think relatively simple. The Minister has talked for weeks about the transition away from fossil fuels. She ought to know what coal gas and diesel generation represents—SPEAKER: Order! Does the member have a point—the fact that the member doesn't like the answer is not a point of order.Jonathan Young: Well she didn't answer the question. I asked how many megawatts of new renewable generation would be needed to replace those elements that exist today.SPEAKER: And I think the Minister did say that renewable generation would have to double.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes.Hon Gerry Brownlee: No that's not right. Mr Speaker—speaking to the point of order—what you will find in the Hansard is that the Minister said that the Transpower report says that electricity generation needs to double by 2050. It does not exclude those other sources of generation that are not renewable and that is why the question has been specifically asked of the Minister today. It's an important one.SPEAKER: Ask the question again.Jonathan Young: Thank you sir. When the Minister said yesterday "this Government is intent on building a resilient energy system with more resilient forms of renewable energy." how many megawatts of new renewable generation will be needed to reliably replace current coal gas and diesel generation?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I said in the previous answer the Transpower report which talks not just about electricity but talks about the coming needs of the energy system talks to a doubling of the need for generation in order to make that transition towards a low-carbon system. That equates to around 4.5 wind farms per year equivalency of which the member should take great comfort. Genesis Energy announced the building of a 100-megawatt facility in his electorate of Taranaki—that is the energy and not just the electricity system.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think the Minister has just demonstrated the point that we're making by repeating again that the Transpower report says doubling of New Zealand's electrical energy requirements without—remember that a lot of it at the moment does come from non-renewable sources. The question is: if you take the renewable sources out what do we need? And the answer that she has given does not give us that figure.SPEAKER: Yes and that's absolutely right. It doesn't give that figure and if the member wants specific figures like that he should have set up his primary questions in order to elucidate them.Jonathan Young: Well how can New Zealanders be confident in her assurances that there will be no energy supply gap when she doesn't even know what investment is needed to achieve that assurance?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We can have confidence because as I talked about in the reading of the legislation yesterday there is a large body of evidence that shows that impediments to the transitions to renewable aren't either financial or technical; they're around political will and this Government doesn't lack in that. That member can have great comfort in the fact that in this country we have hundreds of megawatts of consented but not yet built renewable energy. We also know that technological change to store the roughly 6 terawatts of surplus energy we produce in summer that we can use in winter is coming not just through battery power but through things like molten salt like hydrogen and a range of other storage facilities. I invite that member to join the 21st century.Jonathan Young: So what is the Minister's view with lake levels at 62 percent of the historical average for this time of the year with wind energy generating only 25 percent of its installed capacity over the last 13 weeks natural gas reserves depleting the Minister severely limiting future oil and gas exploration electricity demand—SPEAKER: Order! Question please.Jonathan Young: I started with a question. With electricity demand forecast to more than double as she has said by 2050 what is her view that New Zealand will not be heading into an energy crisis as commentators are starting to say?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: First of all I wish that member would stop scaremongering. We are not in an energy crisis. We have some short-term issues around gas infrastructure and hydro lakes that are still in the normal range. So that member should not try and create a crisis. But this Government is very clear. The problems we are experiencing at the moment are short term but we have to have a plan to transition to a 100 percent renewable system and that is what we're doing. The problems we are seeing at the moment are that member's party's failure to act around the opportunities that were in front of them when they were in Government.Jonathan Young: After the Minister said yesterday "this Government is intent on building a resilient energy system with more resilient forms of renewable energy." how many megawatts of new renewable generation is specifically being built in the next 12 months?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Well I can point first of all to the 100 megawatts that was announced to be built in his own electorate. But what we know is that we have hundreds or thousands of megawatts that is consented but not yet built. In terms of building it that is over to the individual generators and this Government is working with those generators to give them the long-term signals that there is demand for the building of that renewable energy. The member needs to understand that actually leadership is required from a Government in order to send those long-term signals and we are doing just that.SPEAKER: Question No. 12 Dr Deborah Russell.Jonathan Young: Sorry I have another supplementary sir.SPEAKER: No I'm informed that the National Party has used all its supplementaries. [Interruption] Well can I have an assurance from the National Party whips—I will do a reconciliation. All right? Further supplementary.Jonathan Young: Thank you sir. Following that answer considering that wind generation over the last 13 weeks was just 25 percent of its installed capacity what level of investment would be required for wind energy to meet the requirements that she is expecting particularly around the new Waverley Wind Farm when she is quoting 100 megawatts?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: One of the things that we know is that wind energy on its own is not sufficient to provide the security of supply that our energy system needs. What I said in a previous answer is that we are a country that produces roughly 6 terawatts of surplus energy in the summer months and has roughly the same deficit in the winter months. So to ask that question without also including what needs to be done in terms of storage capacity misses the opportunities that sit in front of this country. What the member is asking is what the private investment will be from the generators and they are prepared to make those investments when they see the long-term demand signals and see there is a Government that has a strategy around building a renewable and resilient electricity system and that is just what we are doing."