New Zealand

Gas and coal down, water up - MBIE

21:20 pm on 20 December 2014

New figures show renewable energy in New Zealand is continuing to rise.

The figures were in the latest quarterly energy review by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

They revealed renewable energy made up 81.6 percent of New Zealand's total electricity needs in the September quarter.

This is up from 75.6 percent a year earlier and helps push New Zealand on the way to achieving its goal of 90 percent renewable electricity by 2025.

The rise was helped by higher hydro and geothermal generation and falling use of fossil fuels.

It all helped bring down New Zealand's total greenhouse gas emissions from a year ago.

Production of natural gas soared, meanwhile, reaching its highest level in 12 years.

Much of this was being converted into methanol for export.

Read the full report (PDF, 922 KB)