Process heat in New Zealand (PHiNZ)

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) are working on a process heat action plan, called Process Heat in New Zealand (PHiNZ). The action plan has the intention of improving the energy efficiency of using process heat and increase the amount of renewable energy used to supply process heat. They have been looking at how process heat is used in New Zealand and what the opportunities are for increasing efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its use.

The Process Heat in New Zealand website has several fact sheets including:

• Process heat overview fact sheet; Dairy manufacturing fact sheet; and
• PwC analysis on how large process heat users are investing in process heat improvements.

Further fact sheets underway are intended to summarise the current understanding of process heat use in New Zealand: meat processing, the wood, pulp and paper, petrochemical, and food manufacturing sectors.

MBIE and EECA will next be seeking input on the key barriers to improving process heat in New Zealand. They will publish a document, Process Heat in New Zealand: Barriers to lowering emissions, which sets out the issues PHiNZ is seeking to address. They wish to test with stakeholders their understanding and definition of the issues, to inform the development of a future action plan. They will then develop proposals for an action plan on process heat.