Geothermal Resource Management and Reporting: learning from (NZ) petroleum regulator experience

Abstract

Geothermal energy is a clean and sustainable energy resource. In many countries with naturally occurring hydrothermal resources (like Iceland, Italy, New Zealand and the Pacific Rim of Fire) geothermal power plants have been successfully generating for more than 60 years. However, even in countries with long production histories and strong sustainability regulation (like New Zealand and Iceland), monitoring (and therefore ultimately managing) this sustainability has been hampered by the lack of international, harmonized reporting standards (e.g. see Lawless et al., 2016; IGA, 2015).
New Zealand has set itself the aim to meet 90% of its electricity production from renewable resources by 2025 (presently at ca 80%) and geothermal is a large part of that vision. It also has a long history of geothermal generation, sustainability regulation and monitoring, which also have been hampered by lack of harmonized reporting (e.g. see Lawless et al, 2016). The main regulator (Waikato Regional Council) has recently started consulting with the sector for its 2017 policy review about using more standardized reporting methods, e.g. a modified version of the Australian/Canadian Code (Maunder, 2014) or the new proposed UNECE-UNFC-2009.
In the meantime, after years of consultation from 2008 to 2012, NZ Petroleum & Minerals (Crown Minerals Act, 2013) has changed its petroleum regulation (no capitals needed) regime in 2013 from a relatively ‘liberal’ (had I already mentioned that I was not so comfortable with the use of “laissez faire”) model, to a more prescriptive ‘North Sea’-type model, among others prescribing the SPE-PRMS (2011) standards for reserve reporting (e.g. as used in The Netherlands, UK and Norway). Data reporting (quantity and quality) and management of NZ petroleum resource as a whole, has been greatly enhanced over the last 2 years.
This article compares regulation, reporting and aggregation/management practices in NZ for geothermal & petroleum and tries to derive some lessons.