Shifting currents: Energy infrastructure in transition

Energy is at the heart of our wellbeing. It powers our homes, schools, and businesses. It enables us to make and grow goods we use and consume every day.

Our energy comes from many different sources, including electricity, gas, liquid fuels, and biomass such as wood or coal. Energy infrastructure stores, moves, transforms, and helps us use these sources of energy.

As we move into the future, we should expect continued changes to our energy system, but our focus should be on achieving balance between three key outcomes: affordability, reliability, and low emissions.

This paper is designed to explain in more depth the Commission’s view of the transition to net zero through emissions reductions, with a focus on electricity and, where related, gas networks.

Key findings

The paper points to four key implications for New Zealand’s energy transition:

• Building low-cost electricity infrastructure will keep prices low in the long term.
• Policy certainty and coherence are critical in both the short and long term.
• An adaptable and flexible system will help keep the system affordable and reliable.
• Players in the energy system will need to adapt and coordinate.