
Clean Power Professionals Group
This special interest group is for professionals to connect and discuss all types of carbon-free power alternatives, including nuclear, renewable, tidal and more.
Publication
New Zealand Hydrogen Scenarios

New Zealand Hydrogen Scenarios
The New Zealand Government (the government) wants to develop hydrogen scenarios for New Zealand, following the development of the 2019 Hydrogen Green Paper ‘A vision for hydrogen in New Zealand’ and a hydrogen demand, supply and international trade model built by Castalia in 2020 (the Castalia-MBIE 2020 Hydrogen Model).
The scenarios will inform a Hydrogen Roadmap for New Zealand. New Zealand green hydrogen may account for around 8 percent of total energy demand by 2050 Hydrogen technologies and green hydrogen as an energy carrier could help the government achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. 1 As variable renewable electricity sources such as solar and wind increase as a share of generation capacity, the electricity system will need to become more flexible.
Green hydrogen is a flexible renewable energy (RE) carrier, which can be used in a wide range of applications, such as transport, energy and electricity system services, and industry. It can also be exported to assist overseas decarbonisation efforts.2 It can reduce emissions in high emitting and difficult to decarbonise sectors. Hydrogen could also offer a strategic opportunity for New Zealand to become less reliant on fossil fuel imports for key sectors, particularly transport, which creates future resilience against fuel security risks. It is not without its challenges, however. There are competing technologies which could offer lower cost emissions reductions. This report explores possible use cases of green hydrogen under a business-as-usual (BAU) in 2050 pathway, and also looks at New Zealand’s possible hydrogen economy in 2050 under specific intervention scenarios.
Our BAU scenario modelling suggests that around 8 percent of New Zealand’s energy demand could be met by green hydrogen as an energy vector in 2050. It is possible that this demand will increase over time as hydrogen technologies become more developed. Table 0.1 details New Zealand’s estimated hydrogen demand in 2050 under a BAU scenario, compared to other countries’ estimates. Those other estimates include lower-cost blue, brown and grey hydrogen, whereas our New Zealand analysis only includes green hydrogen.
Discussions
No discussions yet. Start a discussion below.
More Posts
North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme
North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme Offshore Wind and Hydrogen
UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard
UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard
UK hydrogen supply and demand forecast
UK hydrogen supply and demand forecast. Stay informed: Hydrogen Networks
Hydrogen UK | Recommendations for the Acceleration of Hydrogen Networks
The UK’s recent increase in hydrogen production ambition, to 10GW by 2030 as stated in the Energy Security Strategy, demonstrates the significant role hydrogen is expected to play in the future energy mix. Developing 100% hydrogen networks is..
Get Published - Build a Following
The Energy Central Power Industry Network is based on one core idea - power industry professionals helping each other and advancing the industry by sharing and learning from each other.
If you have an experience or insight to share or have learned something from a conference or seminar, your peers and colleagues on Energy Central want to hear about it. It's also easy to share a link to an article you've liked or an industry resource that you think would be helpful.
Sign in to Participate