Lake Onslow Pumped Hydro Option: Feasibility Analysis
Providing for our energy needs from renewable resources brings with it a need to find suitable back-up for times when water levels in our hydro-lakes are low, or it is calm or cloudy. New Zealand has made commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement, and the current Labour Government made a commitment in 2020 to investigate dry year storage solutions to maximise renewable electricity in order to provide a pathway to 100% renewable electricity in New Zealand.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is delivering the New Zealand Battery Project, which has been set up to explore ways to solve the ‘dry year’ problem in New Zealand without using fossil fuels and supporting a pathway to 100% renewable electricity generation.
A potential pumped hydro storage scheme at Lake Onslow, Central Otago, is one of the options that MBIE is investigating to solve New Zealand’s ‘dry year’ problem. Investigating this potential solution provided Boffa Miskell with a unique opportunity to contribute to a wider understanding of the implications that the Lake Onslow option may have on the environment.