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Key Strategic Focus

Each year the NZWEA board reviews strategic direction to ensure the Association’s mission and vision are achieved.

During 2021 the board reviewed the Association’s strategy.  Factors influencing the review included:

  • Health and safety, particularly for new developments.
  • Climate Change Commission emissions budgets and the recommended level of ambition in reducing emissions.
  • Whether the level of site investigations and consenting activity is sufficient to provide a pool of available options to fully take advantage of demand growth projections and actions to achieve NZ’s net zero goal.
  • Resource management systems review including related national direction instruments such as the NPS-IB.  
  • Timing of the Tiwai exit and viability of other large industrial users such as NZ Steel, Refining NZ etc). 
  • Short and longer term implications of the COVID 19 pandemic.
  • NZ Battery Project and implications for a competitive wholesale market and renewables development.
  • Carbon and gas price increases challenging older coal / gas generation plants.
  • Gas supply issues and ability of thermal plants to support wind’s variability.
  • How to best support smaller community and industrial renewable projects and those which combine wind solar and batteries.
  • Wind and hydrogen and the pathway to enabling a competitive offshore wind industry.
  • How to leverage behind the meter generation and storage and the need for retail tariff reform to support the short-term variability of wind.
  • Wholesale market arrangements to support new wind generation development / MEUG renewables project.

The Association’s mission was amended to Enabling development of NZ’s exceptional wind resource as a reliable, sustainable, clean and commercially viable energy source with a simpler vision of Empowering New Zealand’s sustainable energy future and objective of 20% wind by 2035.

Wind energy is now regarded as the key renewables technology to support energy sector decarbonisation. The outlook is exciting with significant forecast growth to meet the Government’s net zero target.

Key areas of strategic focus for the Association were confirmed as:

  • Leveraging New Zealand’s emissions reduction imperative to enable the energy transition to renewables, particularly wind energy.
  • Optimising wind energy’s position and ensure the regulatory environment supports wind farm development.
  • Expanding the opportunity for wind energy development to enable community and industrial projects including wind’s integration with other technologies.

Further details on the Association's strategy is below.

Any questions or comments on the Association's strategy are most welcome. Contact details are located in the 'Contact Us' section.