New Zealand’s electricity generation has fallen to its lowest level in six years, as the demand for power crumbled in the first quarter of the year.

According to the latest data from the New Zealand Energy Quarterly, the March quarter saw total electricity generation fall by 5% compared with the same quarter last year, to the lowest quarterly generation since June 2003.

Unsurprisingly, the grim economic landscape has been blamed for the drop, although the reduced consumption at the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter has also been singled out for blame, although production capacity at the plant is now being increased again.

Power generated from renewable sources was the winner in the first three months of the year, with 73% of total generation coming from geothermal, wind and hydro power sources, the highest amount for this time of year since 2005.

The report also notes that the amount of power coming from wind generation this year is only going to increase as Meridian Energy’s West Wind project progressively comes online.

The project provided just over 3% of electricity generation for the quarter and has a total capacity of 143MW.

Geothermal generation topped 1000GWh for the third consecutive quarter and is on target to produce more than 10% of the annual electricity supply this year.

The lower power generation and increased reliance on renewable sources of energy helped keep CO2 emissions from electricity generation down to its lowest levels since March 2004 and down 31 percent from the previous March quarter.

The report also notes that coal production was up 25% on the last quarter thanks to the usual seasonal variation, but that the ramping up of full production at the Pike River Coal mine over the next six months will see a significant increase in the amount produced nationally.

On the oil front, the data reveals a 27% drop in production over last year, with 4.27 million barrels of oil produced, due to the stabilising of production from the Tui field, although the recent start of production from the Maari field will see 35,0000 barrels of oil produced per day by August.

The New Zealand Energy Quarterly is produced by the Ministry of Economic Development and provides quarterly statistics and trend data on the supply of major fuel types, electricity generation and its associated greenhouse gas emissions, and liquid fuel prices.