The New Zealand government and US investor BlackRock have launched a New Zealand $2 billion investment fund to support the country's renewable energy generation. The fund will support the establishment of new renewable energy facilities as New Zealand hopes to achieve its ambitious renewable energy goals.

Although neither the government nor BlackRock has specified any specific projects that will receive support, funding from the private sector may be an important step in funding new renewable energy projects.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said, 'I am very excited about what this means for the originality of New Zealanders in renewable energy.'; This indicates that our ambitious climate goals have received worldwide attention, as they are beneficial to the climate, the economy, and will help create high skilled employment opportunities.

With countries around the world experiencing the impact of climate change every day, investing in technologies that help address the climate crisis has never been more urgent, and New Zealand is fully capable of becoming the birthplace of this investment. The fund may benefit the solar energy industry, which has developed in New Zealand in recent years but still accounts for a small portion of the energy structure. In October 2022, the country's total solar installed capacity was 247MW, which is higher than the 7MW in October 2013, but still accounts for only 1% of New Zealand's total energy structure.

The new financial support also helps to address the serious regional imbalance in solar power generation capacity in various regions of New Zealand. Auckland is the northern region where the country's largest city is located, with an installed capacity of 57.9MW in October 2022. Only one region, Christchurch, has an installed capacity exceeding 20MW. Private companies have invested in new solar projects outside of Auckland, such as Lightsource BP, which supports a 150 megawatt project at Christchurch Airport and is expected to be operational in 2026. Similarly, Lodestone Energy is completing construction work on its 32MW Edgecumbe project in Planty Bay, North Island, eastern Auckland, and plans to commence commercial operation of the facility in early 2024.

New Zealand's Minister of Energy and Resources, Megan Woods, stated that investors in the green economy can see our potential and recognize our commitment to climate commitments and goals, such as banning further offshore oil and gas exploration.

New Zealand is now a magnet for attracting capital investment, unlocking technologies such as battery storage, wind and solar power generation, green hydrogen production, and more electric vehicle chargers across New Zealand. This news is the latest move by the New Zealand government to expand the solar energy industry. Previously, the government used the legislation passed during the COVID-19 pandemic to speed up the approval process and quickly approved nine solar photovoltaic projects.Editor/XingWentao