Renewable energy target 'not practical'

New Zealand's ambition of being 90 per cent reliant on renewable electricity by 2025 is a pipedream, the Institution of Professional Engineers (Ipenz) says.

In a report on electricity generation in New Zealand, Ipenz said, by its calculations, the amount of power generated from renewable sources – such as hydro, wind and geothermal – would only be about 71 per cent in 15 years."Ninety per cent is not, and never was, a practical target.

"It is incompatible with the New Zealand non-interventionist approach to generation investment and this is in stark contrast to the approach of most other countries with targets."

In five years it was likely 68 per cent of electricity would be generated from renewable sources, only marginally higher than now.

Progress towards the 90 per cent target had been by chance, driven by technology improvements and a move away from low-cost Maui gas.

"These make renewable projects, particularly wind, more competitive," the report said.

Ipenz called on the Government to remove the 90 per cent objective and recognise that progress towards reducing emissions from electricity generation would depend on the success, or otherwise, of the emissions trading scheme.

Chief executive Andrew Cleland said developments in nuclear power – controversially argued by some to be a form of renewable energy – were worth monitoring, but there were still issues with cost, power-plant size and radioactive-waste disposal, as well as safety concerns and New Zealand's nuclear-free stance.

"Engineers are generally happy for it to be discussed, but because we set a 2025 time frame, we mostly shut nuclear out of it."

The report said smaller reactors that could be feasible in New Zealand were in their infancy, with China hoping to have a high-temperature pebble-bed modular plant built by 2013 with two 250-megawatt reactors.

Cleland said New Zealand's high reliance on climate-related generation, limited storage and isolation made its electricity supply vulnerable.

"We would echo concerns from others that security of supply is by no means assured over the next decade to 15 years.

"There's a very short-term problem until we get the upgraded transmission system. After that, we're going to still be very tight."

- © Fairfax NZ News