October 12, 2007 (Cleantech Network) – The country is moving forward with its plan to produce 90 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025.The New Zealand government announced plans to introduce a ban on new gas or coal fired generators. The move is part of the country’s target to produce 90 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025.
“We don’t believe there should be any need for new fossil fuel plants to be built for baseload generation for at least ten years,” said David Parker, New Zealand’s energy minister.
New Zealand already produces 70 percent of its electricity from wind, hydro and geothermal plants.
The government already plans to inform state-owned generators, who generate around two-thirds of the country’s electricity, that it expects them to follow the ban on new fossil fueled plants, and the ban is likely to extend to private generators.
“We are considering amendments to the Electricity Act to limit new baseload fossil fuel generation over the next ten years. We expect to make a decision on this before Christmas,” said Parker.
The government has proposed a fund of $6.2 million over four years for the deployment of marine generation devices, and $9.3 million over three years to support new low carbon energy technologies.
Asia Cleantech 