Source
https://www.eeca.govt.nz/insights/energy-in-new-zealand/renewable-energy/ — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
EECA — Renewable energy in New Zealand (facts & outlook)
National renewable-supply facts by source — solar CF corroborates
pv_yield; wind outlook; biomass = heat (RT_155)EECA’s “Renewable energy in New Zealand — facts and outlook” pages (overview + solar, wind, biomass sub-pages). Authoritative NZ government source; figures here are AI-extracted (data_quality medium — spot-check). Corroborates the model’s solar capacity factor and the biomass-is-heat decision, and provides national wind deployment/outlook for the wind technology page.
Summary
A national stocktake of NZ renewable electricity by source. Electricity is ~80–85% renewable (hydro/geothermal-led). Solar is a small but fast-growing share with a ~16% capacity factor; wind is ~6% of electricity, projected to become the single largest source by 2050; biomass is ~7% of primary energy, used overwhelmingly as a direct industrial fuel (heat) rather than for electricity. Each carries an EECA 2035 outlook.
Key claims
- claim: "National overview: ~80–85% of NZ electricity generation is currently renewable; ~99% of transport energy and ~60% of industrial energy come from fossil fuels."
source_location: "Renewable energy overview page"
- claim: "Solar: 43,641 installed solar systems / 240 MW total capacity (Oct 2022); under 1% of electricity now (1% in 2021), projected 1–6% by 2035 (high uncertainty from falling costs). Average generation ≈ 16% of installed capacity (capacity factor, daylight-only). Most NZ households can save >$1,000/yr off power bills with solar."
source_location: "Solar energy — facts & outlook page"
- claim: "Wind: ~6% of NZ electricity (2021), projected 20–34% by 2035 and modelled as the single largest generation source by 2050 (above hydro). Waipipi 133 MW (4.3 MW turbines); Turitea 222 MW (~2% of NZ electricity, 2nd-largest NZ farm). Domestic turbines ~1 kW; largest onshore NZ turbine 4.3 MW; offshore prototypes up to 15 MW. Wind Energy Return on Carbon ≈ 56× combined-cycle gas, 97× coal."
source_location: "Wind energy — facts & outlook page"
- claim: "Biomass: ~7% of total primary energy (2021) — 73% industrial (wood-product / pulp & paper), 13% residential heating; projected 12–14% by 2035 (Climate Change Commission + TIMES-NZ 2.0). Coal replacement via boiler conversion saves up to 98% CO₂e. Energy-forest cycle ~15 yr; short-rotation crops 1–3 yr. Biomass is used 'as a direct fuel source rather than for electricity generation'."
source_location: "Biomass energy — facts & outlook page"Retrieval provenance
- Upstream source: EECA “Renewable energy in New Zealand” pages (overview + solar/wind/biomass sub-pages), eeca.govt.nz.
- Retrieved via: WebFetch (web research), 2026-06-12.
- Prompt: extract quantitative facts by renewable source (solar/wind/biomass) — installed capacity, share now and projected by 2035, capacity factor, costs/savings.
- Verification: AI-extracted from authoritative EECA pages, unverified — EECA outlook/modelling figures (e.g. solar “1–6% by 2035” is a wide uncertainty band), 2021/2022 vintages.
data_quality: medium; re-fetch + spot-check before publishing.
Neobiome Intelligence relevance
Cross-checks and contextualises three model elements. (1) Solar capacity factor ~16% independently corroborates the model’s pv_yield (~15% CF, RD_013) — an authoritative NZ-government confirmation. (2) Wind national deployment/outlook (6% → 20–34% by 2035; turbine size range incl. domestic ~1 kW) is context for the wind_turbine technology and the small_wind cell. (3) Biomass = direct industrial heat, not electricity corroborates the spec’s biomass-is-heat-only decision (joins Interview I [INT_001], OT_073, the Wood Energy Strategy). The >$1,000/yr household solar saving matches OT_064. National renewable baseline supports the all-NZ scope (D_002). ⚠ AI-extracted EECA outlook figures, medium quality — corroboration/context, not primary calibration. Resolves RT_155.
Research targets
Research gaps
- The EECA geothermal sub-page (and the full Wood/Geothermal strategy PDFs) are tracked under RT_157 (queued). No new RTs.
Connections
Links to
Sources (3): OT_064 · OT_073 · RD_013
Technologies (1): community-scale)
Referenced by
EDT domains (1): D01: Renewable Energy & Storage Systems
Technologies (1): community-scale)