High Electricity Generation in December Quarter
Total electricity generation, after adjusting for seasonal variations, increased 1.9 percent in the December 2002
quarter compared with the September 2002 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand.
Total electricity generation in the December 2002 quarter reached 9,146 gigawatt hours, 7.9 percent higher than in the
December 2001 quarter – the highest level recorded for a December quarter.
In the December 2002 quarter, hydro generation was 6,537 gigawatt hours, 18.9 percent higher than in the December 2001
quarter. Thermal generation of 2,608 gigawatt hours was 12.3 percent lower in the December 2002 quarter than in the
December 2001 quarter, a period in which electricity generation by thermal energy reached the highest level recorded in
a December quarter.
Hydro generation accounted for 71 percent of the electricity generated in the December 2002 quarter, compared with 65
percent in the December 2001 quarter. Over the past 10 years, the December quarterly average contribution of hydro
generation to the total electricity generated has been 73 percent.
In the year ended December 2002, total electricity generation was 36,560 gigawatt hours, 3.7 percent higher than the
figure recorded for the year ended December 2001.
Gas production was 6.1 percent lower in the December 2002 quarter compared with the December 2001 quarter. Gas is a
leading source of thermal energy for electricity generation. Gas production was 246,000 terajoules in the year ended
December 2002, down 4.8 percent when compared with the year ended December 2001.
Production of crude petroleum was 1.1 million tonnes in the year ended December 2002, a fall of 5.7 percent compared
with the year ended December 2001. The volume of crude petroleum produced was 41.7 percent lower than in the year ended
December 1991, when production peaked at 1.9 million tonnes.
In the December 2002 quarter, deliveries of petrol (632,000 tonnes) and diesel (571,000 tonnes) to resellers and direct
to industry were 11.9 percent and 12.8 percent higher respectively than in the December 2001 quarter.
The total volume of petrol delivered in the year ended December 2002 was 9.0 percent higher than in the year ended
December 2001. Deliveries of regular petrol (91 octane or less) totalled 1.8 million tonnes, an increase of 9.0 percent
compared with the year ended December 2001. Regular petrol accounted for 78 percent of the total volume of petrol
delivered.
Deliveries of diesel in the December 2002 year amounted to 2.2 million tonnes, 10.8 percent higher than in the December
2001 year.
Brian Pink
Government Statistician