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Electricity generation from coal fell sharply in the September quarter after Genesis Energy's new gas-fired turbine at Huntly came on line in the middle of the year.
Figures out today from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) show electricity generation from coal down 900 gigawatt hours, or 65.8 per cent, in the September quarter compared to a year earlier.
At the same time gas generation, which produces less carbon dioxide than coal, was up 852GWh, or 36.7 per cent.
Overall thermal generation for the quarter was down 43GWh, or 0.9 per cent, SNZ said.
Hydro and wind generation was down 443GWh, or 7.1 per cent, for the quarter from a year earlier, and supplied 56 per cent of total electricity generation.
While hydro lake levels were below average for the whole of the latest quarter, they were at similar levels to those in the September 2006 quarter.
Total electricity generation in the September 2007 quarter was 10,322GWh, 487GWh, or 4.5 per cent, lower than the September 2006 quarter, when the highest level of electricity generated for any quarter was reached.
The proportion of electricity for sale to consumers coming from all forms of renewable energy was 65 per cent.
Yesterday the Government tabled legislation aimed at pushing the country towards its target of having 90 per cent of electricity generation coming from renewable sources by 2025.
For the year to September, 39,611GWh of electricity was generated, down 309GWh, or 0.8 per cent, from a year earlier.
Quarterly gas production was the highest in four years at 50,171 terajoules, and up 19.9 per cent up on a year earlier.
With the Pohokura field starting operation in the later half of last year, gas production had increased every quarter so far this year, SNZ said.
For the year to September, gas production of 169,701 terajoules was 5.7 per cent up on a year ago, but still well down on the peak September year in 2001 when production topped 258,000 terajoules.
Crude petroleum production is also increasing, having risen since the latter half of 2006 when the Pohokura field started producing, while significant increases came with the start of production from the Tui field at the end of July.
The 439,000 tonnes of crude petroleum produced in the September quarter was the largest in any quarter for 11 years, and 144.4 per cent up on a year ago which had the lowest recorded September quarter production, SNZ said.
The 1.1 million tonnes produced in the year ended September was 53.2 per cent up on a year earlier.
Both petrol and diesel had deliveries of 592,000 tonnes in the latest quarter, up 4.8 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively, on the September 2006 quarter.
For the year, both had deliveries of 2.4 million tonnes, a 1.5 per cent rise for petrol on a year earlier and 2 per cent up for diesel.
- NZPA
