Introducing RETA

The aim of our Regional Energy Transition Accelerator (RETA) is to develop and share a well-informed and coordinated approach for regional decarbonisation.

RETA's focus is on understanding localised opportunities and barriers faced by industry when seeking to reduce emissions from process heat – the energy used for heat generation in manufacturing, and processing primary products. This currently makes up over a quarter of this country’s energy-related emissions.

A collaborative approach

The RETA programme involves working across medium and large energy users and those who supply energy to reduce the carbon footprint of industrial processes – including biomass producers and suppliers, renewable electricity providers, government, regional economic development agencies, Iwi and industry groups.

The RETA programme looks ahead. It builds on EECA’s Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA) programme and Heat Plant Database Project (HPDP), which have highlighted that a number of barriers to reducing energy-related emissions can be best addressed at a regional level. Particularly those relating to fuel supply and infrastructure.

Through this programme we seek to connect demand and supply sides and provide the information needed to build a robust business case analysis to boost and accelerate business decarbonisation within a specific region.

How RETA is applied

A RETA is completed in two stages – planning and implementation. Though there is expected to be some intersection.

The planning stage culminates in a regional report to:

  • provide process heat users with coordinated information specific to the region to make more informed decisions on fuel choice and timing
  • improve fuel supplier confidence to invest in supply side infrastructure
  • surface issues, opportunities and recommendations.

Through collaboration, the implementation stage aims to:

  • identify the regionally supported barriers or opportunities
  • support regional energy users and suppliers with committing to and fast-tracking decarbonisation projects, using the information from the planning stage.

The RETA Dashboard

The outputs from the RETA programme, which are spread throughout the regional reports published to date, are brought together in one place in the RETA dashboard. The RETA map view displays the locations of:

  • process heat demand sites that are using fossil fuels, along with their current thermal energy demand (as at 2022) and potential future fuel demands
  • forests and wood-processors
  • electricity grid exit points (GXPs) and substations
  • regional boundaries

The dashboard also contains the outputs/results of the economic analysis – including the regional biomass availability and the potential future fuel demands in the region if the sites switch from fossil fuels to electricity or biomass.

Next steps for EECA

Over the next two years, EECA will progress RETAs across New Zealand’s regions. While it is primarily focussed on decarbonising process heat, future iterations may also consider transport charging infrastructure, new energy demands, and new electricity generation.