RD_026: Energy in New Zealand 2025 (MBIE) — 2025 edition, data year 2024

RD_026: Energy in New Zealand 2025 (MBIE) — 2025 edition, data year 2024

Source

https://www.mbie.govt.nz/building-and-energy/energy-and-natural-resources/energy-statistics-and-modelling/energy-statistics/energy-in-new-zealand — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)

Energy in New Zealand 2025 (MBIE) — 2025 edition, data year 2024

MBIE's authoritative annual national energy statistics for the 2024 calendar year — the current NZ energy baseline, successor to RD_001 (data year 2023) and RD_014 (data year 2022)

Headline: renewables reached a record 45.5% of total primary energy supply in 2024 (TPES 835 PJ), driven by record geothermal/solar/wind output plus a fall in non-renewable production. But electricity renewable share fell 2.6 points to 85.5% (from 88.1% in 2023) as a dry winter cut hydro to 23,490 GWh (lowest since 2013) and coal generation more than tripled (+118% to 2,243 GWh). National energy self-sufficiency slipped to 72.1%; natural gas reserves fell 27% to 948 PJ (1 Jan 2025) with production heading below 100 PJ within two years. Read verbatim via pdftotext → data_quality: verified. ⚠ Four minor source-internal inconsistencies flagged in Notes (45.5% vs 45.4% renewable-TPES; two typo’d figures not cited).

Summary

MBIE’s comprehensive annual report on New Zealand’s energy supply, demand and prices for the 2024 calendar year (published August 2025). It covers total primary energy supply, electricity generation and consumption, renewables, coal, gas, oil, and the national energy balance tables. This is the authoritative NZ-specific energy baseline and the direct successor to RD_001 (2024 edition, data year 2023) and RD_014 (2023 edition, data year 2022).

The 2024 headline is a divergence between the primary-energy and electricity renewable measures. On the supply side, renewables hit a record 45.5% of total primary energy supply — a combination of higher renewable output (geothermal, solar and wind all at record highs) and falling non-renewable production (gas −20.8%, coal). On the electricity side, an exceptionally dry mid-2024 winter cut hydro generation to its lowest since 2013, so despite record wind/solar/geothermal the renewable share of electricity fell 2.6 points to 85.5% and coal generation more than tripled to fill the gap. At the same time the report documents deepening structural vulnerabilities the national grid is exposed to: energy self-sufficiency slipped to 72.1%, natural gas reserves fell 27% (with two-thirds of that a downward reserves revision), and the country remains 100% import-dependent for refined liquid fuels since the Marsden Point closure. These are the national-scale supply risks that community self-sufficiency design works against, and they refresh every headline figure the NI national baseline draws from RD_001.

Key claims

- claim: "New Zealand's total primary energy supply (TPES) was 835 petajoules (PJ) in 2024, falling 1.3 per cent (11.4 PJ) from 2023. The share of renewables in TPES reached a record high of 45.5 per cent, driven by increased renewable supply plus a decline in non-renewable production. Natural gas production dropped 20.8 per cent to 118 PJ. (Balance table gives TOTAL PRIMARY ENERGY 834.75 PJ.)"
  source_location: "Quick facts p.1 (45.5%); Section A Energy overview, p.3 (835 PJ, −1.3%/11.4 PJ, gas −20.8% to 118 PJ, 'record high of 45.5 per cent'); Section G Balance tables, p.40 (834.75 PJ). ⚠ Renewables section p.16 states the renewable TPES share as 45.4% (up from 42.9% in 2023) — 0.1-point internal discrepancy with the 45.5% headline; both cited verbatim."
- claim: "National electricity generation increased 0.9 per cent to 43,879 GWh in 2024. The renewable share of electricity generation fell 2.6 percentage points to 85.5 per cent, down from 88.1 per cent in 2023, because a dry winter cut hydro generation. Hydro fell 11 per cent to 23,490 GWh — its lowest level since 2013."
  source_location: "Section A p.3 (43,879 GWh, +0.9%, hydro 23,490 GWh 'lowest since 2013'); Section A p.4 (85.5% 'fell 2.6 percentage points', 88.1% in 2023); Section B Electricity, p.9 (43,879 GWh, hydro 23,490 GWh −11%)"
- claim: "Record 2024 generation from non-hydro renewables: solar increased 62 per cent to a record 601 GWh; wind increased 22 per cent to a record 3,919 GWh; geothermal increased 13 per cent to a record 8,741 GWh. To cover the hydro shortfall, coal generation increased 118 per cent to 2,243 GWh (5 per cent of generation, up from 2 per cent), and oil (diesel) generation increased 443 per cent to 25 GWh; gas generation was down 0.6 per cent. This increase in coal and diesel raised greenhouse-gas emissions from electricity generation in 2024."
  source_location: "Section B, p.10 (solar +62% to 601 GWh; wind +22% to 3,919 GWh; geothermal +13% to 8,741 GWh); Section B, p.11 (coal +118% to 2,243 GWh, 5% up from 2%; oil +443% to 25 GWh; gas −0.6%; emissions up)"
- claim: "Renewable electricity generation capacity increased 7 per cent from 2023 to 8,728 MW in 2024 (a 17 per cent increase over 5 years). Renewable generation capacity increased 556 MW in 2024 (up 1,262 MW / 17 per cent from 2020). Solar PV capacity increased 51 per cent; geothermal capacity increased 21 per cent; wind capacity increased 10 per cent, from 688 MW in 2020 to 1,265 MW in 2024 (nearly doubling over five years)."
  source_location: "Quick facts p.1 (556 MW, +17%/1262 MW from 2020); Section A p.3 (556 MW; wind 691→1269 MW 2020→2024); Section C Renewables, p.17 (renewables capacity 8,728 MW, +7%, +17% over 5 yrs; geothermal +21%); p.18 (solar PV +51%; wind 688→1265 MW, +10%). ⚠ Wind 2020 base given as 691 MW on p.3 and 688 MW on p.18; 2024 given as 1269 MW on p.3 and 1265 MW on p.18 — minor cross-section rounding difference."
- claim: "New utility-scale plant capacity commissioned November 2023 – December 2024 (Table 1): Naumai (Solar) 4.8 MW; Te Huka Unit 3 (Geothermal) 51.4 MW; Tauhara (Geothermal) 174 MW; Rangitaiki (Solar) 32 MWp; Kohirā (Solar) 33 MWp; Harapaki (Wind) 176 MW. Four utility-scale solar farms (Kohirā, Naumai, Ruawai, Rangitaiki) collectively added 87 MW; Tauhara + Te Huka 3 added 225 MW of geothermal."
  source_location: "Section C Table 1, p.18 (per-plant capacities); Section B, p.10 (solar farms '+87 MW'; geothermal '+225 MW')"
- claim: "Distributed / residential solar continued to grow: based on Electricity Authority distributed-generation data, total installed capacity of residential solar (connections with and without batteries) increased 29 per cent over the 2024 calendar year, from 251 MW to 323 MW."
  source_location: "Section C Renewables, p.18"
- claim: "Total renewable energy supply reached 379 PJ in 2024. Renewable energy production increased 4.42 per cent from 363 PJ in 2023 to 379 PJ in 2024, while non-renewable energy production decreased 5.6 per cent from 483 PJ to 456 PJ. Direct (non-electricity) use of renewable energy increased 4.07 per cent from 32.5 PJ in 2023 to 33.8 PJ in 2024, largely driven by a 6.17 per cent rise in industrial direct use (21.4 → 22.7 PJ)."
  source_location: "Section C Renewables, p.16 (379 PJ; renewable production +4.42% 363→379 PJ; non-renewable −5.6% 483→456 PJ; direct use +4.07% 32.5→33.8 PJ; industrial direct use +6.17% 21.4→22.7 PJ). ⚠ The renewable-supply rise is stated as '+16.1 PJ' on p.16 but as 'up 15.5 PJ' on p.3 — the +16.1 PJ figure is internally consistent with the 363→379 PJ base and is used here."
- claim: "National energy consumption dropped 2.1 per cent (11.1 PJ) to 525 PJ in 2024, mainly from a 7.5 per cent fall in industrial demand; residential energy demand grew 1.9 per cent and agriculture/forestry/fishing grew 7.1 per cent. The share of modern renewables in total final consumption increased slightly from 29.7 per cent to 29.8 per cent. Electricity consumption was 40,002 GWh (+0.3 per cent); residential electricity consumption exceeded industrial for the second year in a row (up 1.9 per cent)."
  source_location: "Section A p.4 (525 PJ, −2.1%/11.1 PJ; industrial −7.5%; residential +1.9%; ag/forestry/fishing +7.1%; modern renewables TFC 29.7→29.8%); Section B p.12 (electricity consumption 40,002 GWh +0.3%, residential exceeded industrial 2nd year, +1.9%). Quick facts p.1 rounds total consumption to 524.8 PJ."
- claim: "Energy self-sufficiency — a country's ability to meet its own energy needs from domestic production — was 72.1 per cent in 2024, down 1.5 points from 2023. Energy imports accounted for 359 PJ of primary energy supply. Coal self-sufficiency dropped from 172 per cent to 121 per cent as coal imports rose 311 per cent (5.39 PJ → 22.15 PJ) — Genesis Energy rebuilding the Huntly Power Station stockpile amid gas-supply uncertainty."
  source_location: "Section A Energy overview, p.4 (self-sufficiency 72.1%, −1.5 pts, imports 359 PJ, coal SS 172%→121%, imports +311%); Section D Coal, p.22 (coal imports 5.39→22.15 PJ)"
- claim: "New Zealand's natural gas reserves as at 1 January 2025 were estimated at 948 PJ, a 27 per cent drop on the 1 January 2024 figure; around 66 per cent of the drop was gas-field operators revising their reserve estimates downward (not extraction). Production-profile data indicates annual gas production will likely drop below 100 PJ within the next two years. Gas supply for 2024 was 115.70 PJ, down 20.9 per cent (29.04 PJ) on 2023."
  source_location: "Section E Gas, p.28 (reserves 948 PJ, −27%, ~66% reserves revision, production below 100 PJ 'in the next two years'); p.27 (gas supply 115.70 PJ, −20.9%/29.04 PJ)"
- claim: "New Zealand remains 100 per cent import-dependent for refined liquid fuels. Since the Marsden Point refinery closed on 31 March 2022 (switching to a fuel import terminal only), imports of crude oil have dropped to zero and imports of refined products have risen to cover the shortfall. Five companies import fuel for sale in NZ: Z Energy, BP, Mobil, Gull, and Tasman Fuels. Domestic crude oil production fell 14 per cent to 694.83 kt in 2024."
  source_location: "Section F Oil, p.31 (Marsden Point closed 31 March 2022, crude imports to zero, five importers named); p.32 (crude oil production 694.83 kt, −14%)"

Neobiome Intelligence relevance

This is a refresh of the national NZ energy baseline behind RD_001, updating every headline figure to the 2024 data year. It feeds three NI pages — D01 (renewable energy & storage), I06 (resistance to external shocks) and I09 (environmental sustainability) — and supersedes RD_001 as the current-year national anchor.

• D01 — refreshed national renewable-electricity baseline. The current NZ electricity mix is now 85.5% renewable (2024), down from 88.1% in 2023 — a useful correction to the “≈88% renewable grid” figure NI inherits from RD_001, showing how sensitive the number is to a dry hydro year (hydro fell to 23,490 GWh, lowest since 2013, and coal generation more than tripled to backfill). Non-hydro renewables are all at record highs (solar 601 GWh, wind 3,919 GWh, geothermal 8,741 GWh), and total renewable generation capacity is 8,728 MW. For NI’s national grid-vs-off-grid framing, the headline takeaway is that the NZ grid is strongly but hydro-dependently renewable, with a real thermal (coal/diesel) backstop that swings with hydrology — directly relevant to how a community weighs grid import against local generation.
• D01 — distributed/residential solar trajectory. Residential solar installed capacity reached 323 MW at end-2024 (+29% on the year, from 251 MW) — a current national anchor for the pace of household/community-scale PV uptake, complementing the utility-scale plant additions (Table 1). This is the closest figure in the MBIE series to NI’s community-scale generation lever.
• I06 — quantified national supply vulnerability. The report sharpens the structural-shock case: energy self-sufficiency fell to 72.1% (359 PJ imported), gas reserves fell 27% to 948 PJ with two-thirds of that a downward reserves revision and production heading below 100 PJ within two years, and NZ stays 100% import-dependent for refined liquid fuels since Marsden Point. Together these confirm — with fresher numbers than RD_001 — that gas is not a durable long-term backup fuel and all diesel backup is geopolitically exposed. This is the national backdrop against which community energy self-sufficiency is valued.
• I09 — renewable share and emissions direction. Renewables reached a record 45.5% of total primary energy supply, but the coal-driven rise in electricity emissions in 2024 (coal generation +118%, oil +443%) shows the renewable transition is non-monotonic and hydrology-exposed. The 29.8% modern-renewable share of total final consumption marks the electrification frontier — essentially unchanged from RD_001’s 30.1%, confirming that transport and industrial fossil use remain the binding constraint on NZ’s overall renewable share.

Curation note (supersession): this 2025 edition (data year 2024) supersedes RD_001 (data year 2023) as the current national baseline. RD_001 and RD_014 are retained for their 2023/2022 data-year figures (year-on-year series). Where an NI cell currently cites RD_001 for a “current” national figure, it should be re-pointed to this page at write time. Superseded in turn (2026-08-20): the 2026 edition (data year 2025) is now held as RD_039 and is the current national baseline; this page remains the 2024 data-year record. ⚠ RD_039’s Notes list four 2024 figures the 2026 edition restates slightly differently (wind record, TPES share, renewable supply, TFEC share) - statistical revisions, not errors here.

Research targets

Resolved

• RT_159 (RESOLVED → this page): MBIE Energy in New Zealand 2025 (August 2025) retrieved and read verbatim. Confirms the 45.5% primary-energy renewable record high (Quick facts p.1 / Section A p.3) and refreshes the national renewable-share baseline that was sought — successor to RD_001 (2024 edition). All headline national figures (electricity mix, self-sufficiency, gas reserves, renewable capacity) now held at 2024 data year.

Research gaps

• No new retrieval gap is opened by this document. The report is an annual series, so the natural follow-on is simply next year’s Energy in New Zealand 2026 edition (data year 2025) when published — a routine refresh, not a research target. No RT_NEW proposed.

Notes

Authoritative Crown-published annual statistics (ISSN 2324-5913, MBIE, August 2025, 47-page PDF; the cover reads “2025 Calendar Year Edition”, the contents “Quick facts for 2024” → the 2025 edition, data year = 2024 calendar year), read in full via pdftotext -layout — data_quality: verified (every cited figure traced verbatim to a printed page/table/section). It is an official MBIE PDF downloaded from mbie.govt.nz, not an AI-prepared capture, so no ## Retrieval provenance block or upstream_source/retrieved_via fields are required. context: both — refreshes the NI national baseline (D01/I06/I09) and supplies thesis context on NZ’s energy transition and fossil-fuel import dependency (mirrors RD_001/RD_014).

⚠ Edition descriptor (verified against the cover + table of contents): the PDF cover reads “2025 CALENDAR YEAR EDITION” and the contents are “Quick facts for 2024”, so the correct descriptor is the 2025 edition, data year 2024, carried in title, display_name and the H1. data_year: 2024 and year: 2025 (publication year).

⚠ Four source-internal inconsistencies found during verification (each figure traced verbatim; the two garbled/typo values are NOT cited in key_claims):

1. Renewable share of TPES: 45.5% vs 45.4%. Quick facts (p.1) and Section A (p.3) state the record renewable share of total primary energy supply as 45.5%; the Renewables section (p.16) states 45.4% (up from 42.9% in 2023). A 0.1-point rounding discrepancy on the headline figure — both cited verbatim in the first key_claim. Use 45.5% as the headline (it is the report’s own front-page figure).
2. Renewable-supply rise: +15.5 PJ vs +16.1 PJ. Section A (p.3) says renewable supply reached 379 PJ, “up 15.5 PJ”; Section C (p.16) says “a 16.1 PJ rise” and gives the 363→379 PJ base (which implies ~+16 PJ). The +16.1 PJ figure is internally consistent with the stated 363 PJ base and is the one used.
3. Garbled gas-consumption figure “58.5.2 PJ” (p.4). Section A states “Gas consumption for 2024 was 58.5.2 PJ … the lowest since 2011” — a malformed number (double decimal) and inconsistent with the p.27 figure of 117.73 PJ total gas use in the economy (−22%). Because “58.5.2 PJ” is garbled and appears to be a different (sub-total) measure, it is not cited; the clean p.27 gas-supply figure (115.70 PJ, −20.9%) is used instead.
4. Industrial-electricity typo “12.5 GWh” (p.5). Section A states “Industrial electricity consumption fell to 12.5 gigawatt hours (GWh), the lowest level since 1992” — three orders of magnitude too small for a national industrial total (RD_001 recorded ~12,903 GWh); it should read ~12.5 TWh. Not cited as a figure.

⚠ Minor cross-section rounding on wind capacity: the 2020→2024 wind capacity series is given as 691→1269 MW on p.3 and 688→1265 MW on p.18. Both cited in the capacity key_claim; the difference is immaterial (rounding between the overview and the detailed renewables section).

Connections

Links to

Sources (3): RD_001 · RD_014 · RD_039

Referenced by

SSI indicators (2): I06: Resistance to External Shocks · I09: Environmental Sustainability

Sources (2): RD_037 · RD_039

EDT domains (1): D01: Renewable Energy & Storage Systems