New Zealand's solar capacity can reach 6GW by 2050

    State power company Transpower said that in the middle of this century, solar energy may account for 9.3% of the country's total energy generation. However, the actual growth of solar energy is expected to begin in 2035. At that time, distributed power generation equipment is expected to exceed 80% of the total installed photovoltaic capacity.

    New Zealand ’s state-owned power transmission company Transpower stated that by 2050, New Zealand could meet the nation ’s electricity needs through multi-energy generation based on wind, solar system price list, geothermal and hydropower. The energy supplier said that the share of renewable energy will increase from the current 80% to 95% in 2035, and will reach 100% in 2050.

 
    The most likely scenario is that under the basic situation of accelerated electrification, due to population growth and increased electrification demand for heating and transportation, electricity demand is expected to increase from 42TWh in 2020 to 70TWh in 2050. “It ’s worth noting that while electricity demand is expected to increase by 68%, peak demand will only increase by 40%, reflecting the increasing importance of demand response solutions,” the company said.

    According to Transpower, the scenario envisages a generally positive global environment in which increasing political and social pressures demand decarbonization. It also assumes that the New Zealand government will continue to support electrification in a high-priority manner to achieve economic decarbonization.

    In this case, the solar energy share will increase from 0.2% in 2020 to 0.5% in 2025, and then to 1.7% in 2030. In the next five years, this share is expected to reach 4.3% and reach 5.7% in 2040. In 2045, the share of solar energy will reach 7.6%, and eventually reach 9.3% in 2050.