With rising household power costs and an increase in extreme weather events, along with a growing reliance on electricity, the pressure is on to come up with energy solutions that solve the trilemma: ensuring the future of energy is affordable, secure and net-zero carbon by 2050.

That’s the key challenge international and national experts will address at the New Zealand Energy Conference 2025, taking place on April 14-15 and led by the University of Auckland’s Energy Research Consortium.

“Here at the University we’re engaged in building a cohesive and synergistic group of academics who share a common interest in new research to assist developing a green energy and renewable energy system that is more efficient, more affordable and more secure,” says Professor Emilson Silva, a Director of the Energy Research Consortium, and Chair in Energy Economics at the Business School.

“The basic assumption we’ve landed on in New Zealand and elsewhere is that decarbonisation really means electrification, and electrification means adding more renewables into the system,” says Professor Brent Young, who is speaking on process flexibilization in New Zealand’s electricity market at the conference.

Renewables such as solar energy and wind farms reduce our reliance on fossil fuels but they are vulnerable to weather events, which we’re likely to see more of as climate change accelerates, says Young.

"As we all know, the wind doesn’t always blow, the sun doesn’t always shine, and we get dry years. That variability causes operational challenges and volatility in the price as well."

Researchers at the University are developing tools that may enable heavy industries to be more flexible in their energy consumption to allow for demand response over winter, when New Zealanders need more power but can’t absorb endless price hikes.

Solving the trilemma of security, environmental sustainability and affordability begs a complex solution, says Silva. “If you go for one, you could go very sustainable but if it’s unaffordable and insecure, that’s a solution no one wants, right?”

Tactics that can help include shifting energy to off-peak times and reducing energy consumption without compromising production targets.

Another area of innovation at the University is in developing digital twin technology to simulate energy systems and take the guesswork out of energy use management. Rather like a flight simulator in the airline industry, this technology enables energy providers to hone their operating skills, says Young.

“It’s a digital representation of the physical system and allows you to do what-if type scenarios and optimise the planning and operation of the system.”

The New Zealand Energy Conference 2025 will provide a whole-of-sector platform for knowledge sharing and critical discussions, catalysing attention around possible energy futures, in alignment with UN SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).