Conservation and Renewable Energy Sources

Gasbridge

The Gasbridge Sponsors, Contact and Genesis Energy, are at the forefront of the electricity industry moves to improve conservation and increase the development of renewable energy projects. However, natural gas will remain an important component of New Zealand's energy supply for some time yet. Supply of indigenous natural gas is not assured in the medium term, and the Gasbridge project is being developed as a prudent backstop in case this option is needed in future.

Conservation

Both Contact Energy and Genesis Energy are promoting conservation in energy use. The following outlines a range of activities that both organisations are currently involved in.

  • The PowerSavers website has been set up and funded by the electricity industry to help consumers save power, in response to the unusually low hydro lake levels in 2008. Genesis Energy and Contact are among the generating companies funding this programme.
  • Contact Energy is offering Home Check ups, where a trained energy efficiency consultant performs an energy audit of a customer’s home. Contact will then contribute up to 20 per cent of the cost of some recommended efficiency measures.
  • The PowerOfMany campaign was set up by Contact Energy to stimulate power saving measures.
  • Genesis Energy's SchoolGen programme provides schools with the ability to generate a portion of their own electricity from the power of the sun. The 2kW solar panels are complemented by a comprehensive website www.schoolgen.co.nz where students and teachers can access free teaching resources designed to link with the New Zealand curriculum along with information about climate change and energy efficiency.
  • Genesis Energy is reducing its environmental footprint from both generation activities and non-generation activities, through the Hello Tomorrow programme. This involves waste minimisation, use of hybrid vehicles, an employee volunteer scheme and other initiatives.
  • The treepeople website created by Genesis Energy is for New Zealanders of all ages who want to help the environment. It's different because it reveals how small lifestyle changes can have an impact on the real world.

Renewable Energy

Contact and Genesis Energy are investing heavily in development of new generation using renewable energy sources, such as wind, hydro, geothermal and others. The following outlines projects by both companies currently under development.

Contact Energy

Genesis Energy

  • Awhitu, 25 MW wind
  • Mangaio 2 MW mini hydro
  • Research and development of carbon sequestration technology
  • Other geothermal, mini hydro and wind projects are currently in development however have not been publicly announced.

Other initiatives include HomeGen, whereby Genesis Energy supports people wishing to generate all or part of their electricity themselves. Genesis Energy is also a founding member of AWATEA, the Aoteoroa Wind Wave and Tidal Energy Association.