Key Aspects of New Zealand's Policy and Regulatory Regimes for the Sustainable Management of Geothermal Resources

Abstract

There was little in the way of planning and resource management regulatory imperatives or constraints in the 1950s when New Zealand was a pioneer in the development of geothermal resources. Since those early years of investigation, trial and error, and the development of several geothermal power stations, New Zealand has developed and implemented policy and regulatory regimes that seek to achieve the sustainable management of geothermal resources. This includes the development, use and protection of geothermal resources. This paper identifies the key aspects of New Zealand’s policy and regulatory regimes in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty Regions where most of the country’s geothermal resources are located. It discusses how the implementation of those policy and regulatory regimes have worked in practice over the last 10 – 15 years and illustrates how competing interests and values can be reconciled so that economic, environmental, social, and cultural values can all be appropriately addressed. Due to the unique and dynamic nature of geothermal resources, and the competing values associated with those resources, a ‘one size fits all’ approach does not work in relation to the management of geothermal resources. However, the key aspects of the New Zealand geothermal policy and regulatory regimes represent global best practice that can be exported and adapted to fit local circumstances elsewhere in the world.