Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:647;Page:16140] 
7.  
GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy 
: How much of the electricity generated in New Zealand in the week ending 18 May 2008 was generated from thermal sources? 
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Energy) 
: 
 Three hundred and twenty-three gigawatt hours. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Does the Minister accept that lake levels are now at 61 percent of average that thermal generation is running at full capacity and that the system has little or no room for even minor malfunction; if so when will he order the start of the public conservation programme planned by Dr Strange and the national winter power committee? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I certainly accept that hydro storage is less than the average for this time of the year because of drought but we are not at the stage where we propose to call for public conservation campaigns. 
Dave Hereora 
: How much generation has to be built each year in order to reach the Labour-led Government’s target of having 90 percent renewable electricity by 2025 and how much is being built this year? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: The 90 percent renewable target is achievable. It requires only 175 megawatts of new renewables to be built each year. Renewable projects now under construction this year have increased to 400 megawatts of which 300 megawatts are scheduled for completion by the end of this year. There are also exciting developments to tap our marine energy and biomass resources. These advances occur when we have a forward-looking Government that is committed to having sustainable energy. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Can the Minister confirm that under his Government so far 75 percent of the new generation that has been commissioned has been thermal and that although this year may see 300 megawatts being commissioned his year-on-year average has been well below that; and why should we believe that he has any capacity to lead the delivery of the 90 percent renewable target? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: In addition to the statistics that I have just quoted in terms of the renewables that will be built I can show the member this graph which shows the trend from March 2000 to November 2007 of greenhouse gas emissions from thermal electricity in New Zealand. The trend is clearly downwards. There will of course be a blip upwards this year because we are having a drought. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Can the Minister confirm that last week less than 1 percent of New Zealand’s electricity was generated from wind and less than 8 percent from geothermal heat which means we are very very dependent on thermal generation at the current time to keep the lights on; if so how soon does he predict that the renewable sector will grow enough to offset these very very frequent one-in-60-year events? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I can confirm that in the week ended 18 May referred to in the primary question even after a prolonged drought in New Zealand more than half of our electricity came from renewable sources. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Has the Minister worked out yet that in order to meet his 90 percent renewable target geothermal generation would need to grow by over 400 percent or energy from wind would need to grow by over 3000 percent or some combination of the two in a high thousand percent would be needed; if so how soon does he think that will happen? 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: In the sixth term! 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: We will probably be there by then. But it is absolutely clear from the New Zealand Energy Strategy and other publicly available documents that New Zealand has abundant sources of affordable renewables. That they are affordable is absolutely proven by the current investment patterns by generators who are already investing in current technologies like wind and geothermal generation which are both economic and available in abundant quantities. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Has the Minister heard the criticisms offered today by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment who has said that the thermal ban is “unworkable and should not proceed.”; if so what is his response to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I am sure that minor aspects of the restrictions on thermal generation will need to be addressed by the select committee—that is the normal select committee process. But I am absolutely sure that the transition towards 90 percent renewables in New Zealand is achievable and I think history will show that achieving it is probably one of the easiest parts of the transition towards sustainable energy in New Zealand. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I seek leave to table documents that show the very precarious state of inflows into the hydro lakes storage system. 
Documents by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I seek leave to table a document that shows that New Zealand would have had the lights put out last week had it not been for our thermal generation capacity. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: I seek leave to table a graph that shows the decrease in emissions from thermal electricity over time. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.