Renewable electricity, diesel consumption both up in New Zealand

The proportion of New Zealand electricity generated from renewable sources hit a 20-year high in the September quarter, according to a government report out Thursday.

The report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed 86.1 percent of New Zealand's electricity generation came from renewable forms of energy.

"This signals a clear move away from fossil fuels used for electricity generation towards clean forms of energy such as hydro and shows that New Zealand is continuing to take advantage of its abundant natural resources," Energy and Resources Minister Judith Collins said in a statement.

Along with increases in renewables and hydro generation in particular, the decrease in fossil fuel-based electricity generation produced the second lowest carbon emissions from electricity generation for a September quarter on record.

"We saw decreases in coal and gas-based electricity generation and these were matched by lower electricity consumption, which fell compared to the same time last year," said Collins.

"Households spent less on electricity in the September 2016 quarter, largely due to consumers using 4.5 percent less electricity than in the previous year."

However, higher transport activity led to increased liquid fuel consumption.

"The data shows the increase in liquid fuel consumption was met by imports rather than domestic production," said Collins.

"While diesel imports fluctuate significantly between quarterly periods, this quarter's imports were the largest September increase since 1985," she said. Endit