Consumption
In 2011, New Zealand consumed a total of 38,490 GWh of electricity. Industrial consumption made up 37.7 percent of that figure, agricultural consumption made up 5.0 percent, commercial consumption made up 23.8 percent, and residential consumption made up 33.5 percent. There were just over 1,929,000 connections to the national electricity network on in March 2011, with 87.2 percent being residential connections.
| Category | Total consumption (GWh) | Total connections |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 1,937 | 63,512 |
| Industrial | 14,528 | 34,832 |
| Mining | 407 | |
| Food Processing | 1882 | |
| Wood, Pulp, Paper and Printing | 3,224 | |
| Chemicals | 683 | |
| Basic Metals | 6,917 | |
| Other sectors | 1,414 | |
| Commercial and Transport | 9,146 | 147,613 |
| Residential | 12,879 | 1,683,089 |
| Total | 39,038 | 1,929,046 |
New Zealand's largest single electricity user is the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter in Southland, which can demand up to 640 megawatts of power, and annually consumes around 5400 GWh. The smelter effectively has the Manapouri power station as a dedicated power generator to supply it. Other large industrial users include the Tasman pulp and paper mill at Kawerau (175 MW demand), and New Zealand Steel's Glenbrook mill (116 MW demand).
The other major consumers are the cities, with Auckland, the nation's largest city, demanding up to 1722 MW and consuming 8679 GWh in 2010-11. Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Dunedin are also major consumers, with other large demand centres including Whangarei-Marsden Point, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Napier-Hastings, Palmerston North, Nelson, Ashburton, Timaru-Temuka, and Invercargill.
Read more about this topic: Electricity Sector In New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the word consumption:
“What happens is that, as with drugs, he needs a stronger shot each time, and women are just women. The consumption of one woman is the consumption of all. You can’t double the dose.”
—Ian Fleming (1908–1964)
“The Landlord is a gentleman ... who does not earn his wealth. He has a host of agents and clerks that receive for him. He does not even take the trouble to spend his wealth. He has a host of people around him to do the actual spending. He never sees it until he comes to enjoy it. His sole function, his chief pride, is the stately consumption of wealth produced by others.”
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945)
“Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)