Taranaki Regional Energy Transition Accelerator

Publication date: October 2024

Benefits for Taranaki

A Taranaki specific decarbonisation pathway will enable:

  • early insights for decision makers to improve efficiency and future proof infrastructure investments
  • best use of information sharing to encourage demand flexibility through collaboration
  • confidence for fuel suppliers and technology providers to accelerate the development of new supply chains or capacity building initiatives, due to increased demand
  • a full view of biomass resource availability, the potential volumes, costs and future demand for bioenergy.

About the Taranaki RETA

A total of 36 sites spanning the dairy, meat, industrial and commercial sectors are covered by the Taranaki Regional Energy Transition Accelerator (RETA). These sites either have process heat equipment larger than 500 kW or are sites for which EECA has detailed information about their decarbonisation pathway. Collectively, these sites consume 23,950 TJ of process heat energy, primarily from piped fossil gas, and currently produce 1,287 kt per year of CO2e emissions. RETA aims to demonstrate the pathways to eliminate as much of these process heat emissions as possible.

The Taranaki region is unique in that gas is also used as a feedstock. This report – the culmination of phase one of the RETA programme in this region – illustrates the region’s distinctive pathways that rely on electricity.

Both biomass and electricity – including using electricity to create green hydrogen – are considered as potential fuel sources.

RETA also recognises the importance of demand management and thermal efficiency measures for reducing energy consumption and right sizing new boiler investment, which in turn affects decision-making around fuel switching.

The report explains a range of decarbonisation pathways, all of which show how the combined decisions of a range of process heat users may lead to common infrastructure challenges and opportunities from a supply perspective. Across the 36 sites, there are 92 individual projects covering demand reduction, heat pumps and fuel switching. The 'MAC Optimal' pathway sees fuel decisions that result in 80% of the energy needs supplied by electricity and 20% supplied by biomass.

 

RETA Tairāwhiti projects.

Insights explored in the Taranaki report:

  • The key role demand management and heat pumps play in the fuel switching decision and infrastructure investment.

  • How the sensitivities across gas pricing and supply impacts emissions reductions pathways from an energy demand perspective.

  • Timeframes for decarbonisation under different pathway scenarios, that is:

The business as usual or ‘BAU’ decarbonisation pathway, which uses actual project timing or 2050 where unavailable, is the slowest decarbonisation path.

The marginal abatement cost or ‘MAC’ optimal pathway suggests 39% of emission reduction projects can be cost neutral prior to 2028.

  • The role for infrastructure to play in enabling the transition to renewables and possibly bringing it forward.
  • The potential of biomass as part of the local mix and the work needed to accelerate harvesting of high-quality biomass in the region’s forests.
  • The application of fuel flexibility - a theme in the consumption of electricity and assessment of the costs of both electricity network upgrades is the ability of a site to leverage its ability to temporarily reduce or shift demand (potentially at short notice).
  • The optimisation of infrastructure investment, capacity, and timing.

Energy efficiency, demand management and fuel flexibility are key parts of the process for the region – the cheapest fuel is the fuel you don’t use.

Richard Briggs, Group Manager Delivery and Partnerships, EECA

Next steps

EECA is currently completing RETAs throughout the rest of the North Island.

We are happy to hear from anyone wanting to support the implementation of recommendations in the Taranaki RETA report.

Email RETA@eeca.govt.nz with any questions.