8. Renewable Energy—Security of SupplyJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) to the Minister of Energy and ResourcesRenewable Energy—Security of Supply8. JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What proportion of electricity generation was non-renewable in the March 2018 quarter?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): According to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's latest New Zealand Energy Quarterly publication 18.9 percent of electricity generation came from non-renewables in the March 2018 quarter; 81.1 percent of generation in that quarter came from renewables.Jonathan Young: Does the Minister agree with Meridian Energy who have said power prices may need to rise substantially if the policy intent is to have all on-call generation coming from renewable supplies?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: No I don't because what we do know is that some of the most expensive electricity that we generate in this country comes from non-renewable sources. Actually it is the cost of renewable electricity generation sources that are lowering and it is non-renewables that are rising. If we want to have affordable electricity in this country we need a Government that is prepared to put the plan in place to get those renewable sources in.Jonathan Young: Will the Minister look to battery technology to keep the lights on for New Zealand households during low lake levels low wind levels and low sunshine hours and when fossil fuels are no longer part of our future even though Genesis Energy have said trying to use them for managing seasonal storage could cost more than $2 trillion?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Clearly at the moment the technology state for batteries is not the kind of solution that we would be looking at. But given this Government has the courage to put in place a plan that will see us through the next 30 40 50 years batteries are one option as is hydrogen ammonia storage as is increasing our thermal baseload through geothermal and using our hydro lakes as storage. There are a range of solutions and I encourage that member to enter the 21st century and start looking at them.Jonathan Young: With Transpower forecasting electricity demand more than doubling by 2050 and the Minister saying extra generation will probably not come from hydro and that fossil fuels aren't our future is the Minister open that nuclear energy should be considered as suggested by Transpower's grid development manager?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: No.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Who is the person that is the head of Genesis Energy and what political party did she come from?SPEAKER: The member may answer the first part of the question.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Ha Ha! Mr Speaker really? You're going to rule that in order? I think it is immaterial which party the head of Genesis Energy comes from. But what I think is important is that we put in place adequate planning.Jonathan Young: So what is the Minister doing to ensure New Zealand households can turn on the lights when lake levels are low when the wind isn't blowing when the sun isn't shining and when fossil fuels are no longer part of our future?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: What this Government is doing to ensure that New Zealanders can keep their lights on is putting in place a plan for the 21st century that will see what happens when the world stops using fossil fuels. What I want to know from that member and his party with its new-found action on climate change is when do they propose to stop burning fossil fuels?