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NZ Minister of Energy highlighting commitment to support global geothermal development

NZ Minister of Energy highlighting commitment to support global geothermal development Hon. Simon Bridges, Minister of Energy and Resources, New Zealand at WGC 2015 (source: ThinkGeoEnergy)
Alexander Richter 17 Mar 2016

Addressing the recently held Asia-Pacific Energy Leaders' Summit, New Zealand's Minister for Energy Simon Bridges highlighted the emphasis of New Zealand in supporting global geothermal development.

At the recently held Asia-Pacific Energy Leaders’ Summit, New Zealand’s Minister for Energy Simon Bridges, gave a keynote address that among others highlighted New Zealand’s commitment to global geothermal development.

He described the focus on renewable energy and in particular geothermal of the New Zealand Aid Programme, with a specific emphasis on Indonesia, the Caribbean, Africa and some parts of the Pacific.

New Zealand support is focused on targeted technical assistance that helps determine the feasibility of geothermal resources development, laying groundwork to allow other donors and the private sector to invest in these countries.

Here excerpts from his keynote speech:

“Since 2013, through our NZ Aid programme, New Zealand has invested over $100 million in renewable energy projects across six Pacific Island nations, as well as in the Caribbean and South East Asia.

The New Zealand Aid Programme scholarship programme has provided for students to undertake the Postgraduate Certificate in Geothermal Energy Technology at the University of Auckland since 2013.

The programme is run through the Geothermal Institute within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Auckland and around 1,450 students from more than 50 counties have graduated, and are now leaders in the geothermal industry worldwide, with scholars have coming from the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Pacific

Last year at the Paris CoP21, New Zealand officially became a member of the IRENA, Global Geothermal Alliance (the Alliance). The Alliance aims to increase the share of geothermal power generation and the direct use of geothermal heat globally.

The Alliance has a goal of five-fold growth of globally installed capacity for geothermal power generation by 2030. This is an ambitious goal, which can be achieved through knowledge sharing, strategic partnerships, strengthening investment.

I encourage the financial sector to collaborate with geothermal developers and navigate the hurdles to establishing this truly resilient form of energy.

At the Paris COP21, the International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA) launched the Global Geothermal Alliance to increase the share of geothermal energy in electricity generation and direct use of geothermal heat around the world.  As a member nation, I believe New Zealand has a key role to play in the Alliance.”

Source: Beehive.govt.nz