The internationalization of the global PV industry continues, with New Zealand that latest country to show strong installation growth. Figures from the Electricity Networks Association show that the number of solar arrays in the country has trebled over the last 18 months.
Commenting on the trend, the Electricity Networks Association CEO Graeme Peters said that solar looks likely to present a challenge for local utilities, which operate as regulated monopolies. Peters said that battery storage is likely to be a game changer for electricity supply in New Zealand.
Installations throughout New Zealand were not entirely uniform, with residents of the capital city of Auckland being the most likely to install PV.
New Zealand benefits from considerable renewable resources, with over 60% of the countrys electricity coming from hydropower, with geothermal (10%) and wind (3%) also making notable contributions.
The Sustainable Electricity Association of New Zealand (SEANZ) reports that minimizing electricity bills remains the primary driver for homes and business to install rooftop PV. Utilities pay feed-in rates of up to NZ$0.08/kWh for PV, however rising electricity prices have proven an incentive for increasing solar adoption.
SEANZ's communications manager Kristin Gillies told pv magazine that New Zealand's Electricity Authority is currently consulting with stakeholders on reforms to pricing structures, with utilities advocating for an increase in fixed charges to rate payers. Gilles estimates the country's installed PV capacity to stand at around 22 MW.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.