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| The Gas Transition Loan Guarantee Scheme | The Government has announced a new initiative to help businesses transition from gas, protecting jobs and securing New Zealand's dwindling gas supplies for other users. This Budget 2026 initiative is expected to make up to $1.2 billion of bank loans available to businesses to eliminate or reduce their dependency on gas. BEC welcomes this initiative as it reflects our report the need for Government assistance in the gas transition. Read the government announcement here... Read the BEC report here...
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Budget 2026, titled Securing New Zealand's Future was delivered against the backdrop of a challenging domestic environment and heightened international uncertainty. As expected, there were the usual increases in expenditure on health, education and defence. There were specific announcements in respect to housing and the assistance in gas transition, and the Government announced its public sector reform programme to improve services and lower costs. Given the political, economic and fiscal constraints facing the coalition Government, Budget 2026 can broadly be viewed as a fiscally responsible Budget, particularly given the natural pressures associated with an election year. Read the BusinessNZ Budget summary here... | | | |
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Security of Supply Outlook | Transpower has released the latest security of supply outlook. The current energy and capacity risk outlooks indicate no elevated near-term risk, provided there are no major unplanned outages or fuel supply disruptions. Current fuel stocks are healthy, providing a solid position heading into winter. National hydro storage is currently sitting at ~109% of historic mean for this time of year. This continues to be largely driven by North Island hydro storage where Taupō is at 192% of the historic mean. The latest reported coal stockpile at Huntly is ~1.2MT and Ahuroa gas storage is sitting at ~90% of capacity. | | | |
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Annual Petroleum Reserves Data | MBIE has released the latest annual petroleum reserves data. As of 1 January 2026, New Zealand's natural gas 2P reserves declined 23% from last year to 731PJ, the lowest level since recording began 20 years ago. The main contribution to this decline is the Pohokura field with a downward revision of 113PJ. Somewhat offsetting this was successful drilling at Mangahewa which promoted some contingent reserves to reserves, revising upwards by 39PJ. Read more here... | | | |
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The Electricity Authority has made the decision to amend the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 to introduce non-discrimination obligations to help level the playing field in the electricity market. The NDOs require the four large gentailers to supply risk management contracts on an even-handed basis to all buyers. Gentailers will be required to submit plans to the Authority on how they will comply with the NDOs, and certify they are compliant annually. They must also submit six-monthly Retail Price Consistency Assessments to the Authority to demonstrate that their retail price offers are justifiable in relation to their expected cost of supply. Read more here... | | | |
World Energy Investment 2026 | The IEA has released this year's World Energy Investment report. Against a backdrop of shifting regional impacts and heightened insecurity, today's conflict in the Middle East is expected to make energy security a top priority among decision makers. The effects of today's disruptions are felt most directly in the Middle East and Asia, which has been the destination of 80-90% of energy exports from Gulf producers. Renewable energy resources are widely distributed around the world, and preliminary signs indicate that deployment is picking up in some markets. Investments in electricity supply and infrastructure are expected to reach USD 1.6 trillion in 2026 and rise to USD 2 trillion when spending on end-use electrification is included. Read more here... | | | |
Wind and Solar Overtake Gas Generation | Recent reporting from Ember indicates that for the first time, wind and solar generated more electricity than gas worldwide in April 2026. Together wind and solar generated 22% of global electricity through the month while gas generated 20%. The milestone was driven by continued strong growth in wind and solar, which rose fast enough to meet most of the increase in global electricity demand. Data shows no evidence of widespread gas-to-coal switching globally, despite ongoing energy security concerns. Read more here... | | | |
Transitioning away from fossil fuels | The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released a report titled Transitioning Away From Fossil Fuels which provides a future roadmap powered by renewables, electrification and grid enhancement. The report provides a platform from which to shape a new pathway consistent with climate, energy security and development challenges. It acknowledges that achieving a transition away from fossil fuels will require a multi-sector approach that combines policy, regulation, infrastructure, institutional reforms, finance and international co-operation. Read more here... | | | |
OPEC and IEA cut oil demand projections | Oil demand forecasts diverged in May. OPEC continued to forecast global oil demand growth in 2026, although at a slower rate than previously expected. In contrast the IEA now expects world oil demand to contract by 420 kb/d year-on-year to 104 mb/d, 1.3 mb/d less than pre-war forecasts. The biggest decline is in 2Q26, down by 2.45 mb/d. The petrochemical and aviation sectors are currently most affected, but higher prices, a weaker economic environment and demand saving measures will increasingly impact fuel use. Read OPEC here... Read IEA here... | | | |
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BEC is currently working on the following submissions: There are a number of submissions that BEC is currently considering submitting on. The EA has a range of consultation documents out including improving information on high-voltage networks, wholesale market arrangements for battery energy storage systems, common quality and wholesale market arrangements for BESS and BESS-hybrid stations and promoting reliable electricity supply: options to address a harmonics issue. The Ministry of Transport is consulting on proposed regulations to road user charges and Transpower is consulting on the System Operator policy statement review and Tararua enabling new renewables major capex project. We are still determining where we will focus our efforts. View BEC submissions here... | |
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From battery-ready to hybrid solar-plus-battery projects | As the Australian solar market continues to develop at high speed, an overriding expectation of hybrid solar installations with batteries are becoming the norm. Hybridisation is shifting from option to expectation. This matters because it marks a meaningful shift in how new solar is being configured to connect to the grid. Projects are entering a grid that is more inverter-based, less forgiving, and more reliant on assets that can create hosting capacity and support stability. Read more here... | | | |
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The New Zealand Geothermal Association (NZGA) and EECA are running a series of workshops connecting businesses and decision makers with Geoheat experts. Low temperature geothermal heat, or Geoheat, is a widely available, underutilised resource in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a low carbon, cost effective, renewable resource, which is proving an increasingly attractive process heat option for consumers as gas prices increase. Following successful workshops in Tauranga and New Plymouth, the next events will be later this year in Hamilton and South Auckland; keep an eye on the NZGA website here for the latest undates. | | | |
| EECA has started the wheels rolling on a new trial of two-way EV chargers | The trial will build on EECA's first trial, now underway in Queenstown, and generate more information about how EV batteries can be used to supply electricity to New Zealand homes and businesses - supporting the electricity grid. EECA is seeking a supplier to deliver a trial of up to 100 light vehicle chargers (and potentially up to 5 heavy vehicle chargers) across one or more urban locations to test these chargers in a different range of situations, and a wider range of fleet types, changing environments, and vehicle and charger models. Find out more about EECA's new request for proposals here...
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New Infrastructure Regulation Symposium | |
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Electricity Networks Aotearoa is launching its first Infrastructure Regulation Symposium - a new forum for infrastructure and regulatory leaders navigating an increasingly complex environment. The full-day, in person event will be held in Wellington on 24 November 2026. Save the date for now, and if you're keen to find out more subscribe below. | |
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