Wellington Regional Energy Transition Accelerator

About the Wellington RETA 

A total of 76 industrial and commercial sites are covered by the Wellington Regional Energy Transition Accelerator (RETA). These sites either have fossil-fuelled process heat equipment larger than 500 kilowatts (kW), or are sites (e.g. hospitals and schools) for which EECA has detailed information about their current energy use.  

Collectively, these sites consumed 965 terajoules (TJ) of process heat energy in the baseline year 2022, primarily from piped fossil gas, producing 52 kilotonnes (kt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions.  

Almost all identified sites rely on reticulated gas, with only a small number of sites using LPG and diesel.  

Wellington's emissions profile

Unlike many other RETA regions, Wellington's emissions profile is dominated by the commercial sector rather than large industrial users. Commercial buildings and institutions account for 61 of the 76 sites and 64% of the region's fossil fuel demand, largely for space and water heating. 

Opportunities to reduce emissions

The Wellington report — the final regional report of the RETA programme — explores opportunities to reduce emissions through demand reduction and fuel switching to electricity and biomass. It also considers the practical implications of these pathways, recognising that Wellington's urban environment presents challenges for biomass use, including fuel transport, storage constraints and air quality considerations. 

Across the Wellington sites, around 65% of current process heat emissions could be reduced through projects that are commercially attractive under expected price scenarios over the next 5 years. 

The marginal abatement cost (MAC) optimal pathway would reduce process heat emissions by 82% by 2048 through a combination of 48 large heat pumps and 12 biomass boilers.  

Investment in demand reduction could reduce process heat demand by around 15%, avoiding an estimated $30 to $32 million of electricity and biomass infrastructure while reducing the capacity of new fuel-switching infrastructure required.