News

Oct 08, 2023

EECA: Southland 'ahead of pack' in adopting clean energy

Coal is still widely used by Southland industries but 83 of 186 fossil fuel

Coal is still widely used by Southland industries but 83 of 186 fossil fuel boilers in the region have or are being converted to renewable energy, Great South says.

Great South strategic projects manager Steve Canny said companies doing the conversion projects included the Alliance Group and Mataura Valley Milk, several hotels, at least 12 schools, Great South, the Menzies Building, Mitre 10, Southport, Habitat for Humanity and Invercargill Prison.

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority [EECA] on Monday published a report, which it says will help Southland industry transition away from fossil fuels [coal oil and gas] towards a low emissions' economy.

EECA group manager for business Nicki Sutherland said Southland was in many respects ahead of the pack when it came to adopting clean energy, but more work was needed to meet national emissions reduction targets to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

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The report centres on how Southland can work collectively, across both the demand side and supply side of the energy ecosystem, to support the uptake of renewable energy among Southland's process heat users.

Southland was the first region in New Zealand to do the regional energy transition accelerator report, a collaboration between government, Great South, power providers, industrial energy users and more.

Sutherland said process heat users and those involved in the supply of electricity needed a line of sight on renewable fuel sources and availability, infrastructure upgrades and costs.

Also, central to the recommendations was a focus on businesses choosing the optimal fuel source for their industrial processes.

Biomass may be more appropriate for high temperature processes in places where electricity was constrained, and electricity was usually more appropriate for lower temperature processes, she said.

By reducing their emissions, businesses would stay ahead of the wider regulatory environment and may be eligible to apply for Government funding.

PowerNet chief executive Jason Franklin said it began working with its major customers two years ago and was aware of the amount of process heat in Southland that would move to either electrification or biomass.

"There will need to be upgrades in the electricity network that we manage, we are aware of those, we are planning for those, some are underway at the moment," Franklin said.

It was great to help the wider economy decarbonise, he said.

Meat processor the Alliance Group aims to eliminate coal use by 2029.

Alliance Group's manufacturing manager, Willie Wiese, said the initial investment could be a hurdle but the company's operating costs had reduced.

"We expect that environmental standards and regulations will change so it makes economic sense to get ahead of the curve."

Moving away from fossil fuels was important for environmental sustainability and for brand-New Zealand, while moving away from coal-fired boilers would help improve local air quality, he said.

Canny said work from the report would be fed into the Southland Murihiku Regional Energy Strategy 2022-2050, which would look at the demand for new energy and where the new renewable energy would be generated.

Southland had had a decarbonisation programme in place since 2015 and was working towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Canny said Southland industries were making the changes. Southland was an exporting region and overseas customers were increasingly wanting to buy low carbon products.

"There's a desire to reduce emissions, but also Southland businesses want to brand their products as clean and green, so that's becoming a critical part of Southland marketing moving forward."

Carbon costs were rising and many Southland businesses currently using fossil fuels wanted to be insulated against those costs.

"Part of being insulated against the cost of carbon is Southland businesses want to be globally competitive in a New Zealand setting, therefore energy price and reliability is also important."