Renewables surge cuts power emissions, but oil dominates fossil fuel use
Today 11:30am
By Shannon Morris-Williams
New Zealand’s fossil fuel emissions fell in 2025 as strong renewable electricity generation reduced the need for gas-fired power, but oil consumption is rising and now accounts for a record share of fossil emissions.
Story copyright © Carbon News 2026
Todd gets nod to drill first super-critical geothermal well
Thu 12 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Todd Energy is to make its sole oil drilling rig available to drill the first exploration well under the government’s $60 million super-critical geothermal resource exploration programme under a ‘preferred supplier’ agreement announced yesterday.
Japan eyes New Zealand as green hydrogen export hub
Thu 12 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A new partnership between major Japanese companies aims to explore exporting green hydrogen from New Zealand – but the economics of producing the energy-hungry fuel remain the biggest hurdle.
Methanex: a gauge of NZ’s gas decline
Thu 12 Mar 2026
Methanex’s latest earnings call offered a blunt reminder that the company’s shrinking New Zealand business is now less a stand-alone corporate story than a barometer of the country’s broader gas decline.
Upton on LNG: don’t make electricity consumers subsidise industrial gas
Wed 11 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Industrial gas users will be subsidised by electricity consumers unless they are also charged for access to the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, says.
If the government is set on an LNG terminal, gas users, not electricity users, should pay
Wed 11 Mar 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: It's increasingly clear that the government's narrative of LNG as ‘dry year electricity insurance’ really doesn't stack up.
Hormuz crisis critical to New Zealand
Tue 10 Mar 2026
By Nathan Surendran | COMMENT: Why the Hormuz crisis is a symptom, not the disease – and what it means for New Zealand.
Renewables streak ends as thermal nudges back in
Tue 10 Mar 2026
A 20-week stretch in which renewable generation stayed at or above 96% of New Zealand’s electricity mix came to an end in the week to March 1, as thermal generation edged higher and wholesale prices lifted from the unusually low levels seen through much of the summer.
Funding first: Genesis reinforces the balance sheet
5 Mar 2026
Genesis Energy’s $400 million equity raise landed alongside a record first half, but the capital decision rather than the earnings headline is the more revealing signal about how the company intends to navigate the next phase of the build cycle.
Gisborne leads NZ in solar battery uptake as resilience drives demand
4 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Battery storage is rapidly moving from add-on to mainstream in New Zealand’s residential solar market, with 2025 data showing stark regional differences in uptake, according to new analysis.
