Renewable power continues to rise in New Zealand
Xinhua, October 20, 2016 Adjust font size:
The proportion of New Zealand's electricity generated from renewable sources rose to 83.4 percent in the quarter to the end of June, according to government data out Thursday.
"This is the fifth quarter in a row that electricity generated from renewables has exceeded 80 percent," said James Hogan, manager of energy and building trends at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
"The proportion of electricity generated from renewables was up 1.6 percent from the same quarter last year," Hogan said in a statement.
The figures showed that geothermal electricity generation increased 1.3 percent from the previous June quarter, overtaking the record level set in the March quarter.
"At the same time, electricity generated from fossil fuels was 10 percent lower than last year's June quarter, due to a 12-percent fall in gas-fired generation," Hogan said.
Total electricity demand for the June quarter was down 1 percent from the same time last year with the warmest May and third warmest June temperatures on record this year.
Demand from the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors increased 9.5 percent from the June quarter 2015, while residential demand was down 5 percent over the previous period. Endit