By What is the New Zealand Aotearoa Community Energy Dataset (NZACED)
This is a dataset of local or community owned renewable energy initiatives in New Zealand. It ranges from consumer trust owned networks, to community and Iwi owned renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and municipal projects. To provide some context for the current state of the sector, we’ve included a full range of projects from projects that are currently on hold or have not been succesful, through to early feasibility and completed/operational projects. The way citizens and communities are connected differs by project.
In some large trusts, direct participation may be theoretically possible but minimal in practice. Other projects in the dataset are small volunteer based. All meet the broad criteria of community investment and control, but might not be what some assume ‘community’ to mean.
Why is collecting this data important?
This dataset provides insight to the scope and nature, barriers and opportunities in the local and community energy sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. If we are going to successfully transition to a low carbon economy, it is critically important to understand the contribution of decentralised energy initiatives being developed or already underway.
Where can you find a detailed breakdown of this data and how it was collected?
An overview of the dataset, including a typology of different projects, is described in detail in: Berka A, MacArthur J, Gonnelli C (2020) Explaining inclusivity in energy transitions: Local and community energy in Aotearoa New Zealand, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 34: 165-182, ISSN 2210-4224.
Is the Information on your community energy initiative incorrect? Every effort has been made to ensure the dataset is as complete and accurate as possible, but errors are inevitable in a fast-changing environment. Please use the form provided to send us updates or edits to your project, or to add a new community energy project to the dataset.
Feedback
Did you find what you were looking for? We would love to hear from you if you think there is important information missing, if there have been changes to a project, or if you are part of a new project. Contact nzcedata@gmail.com to discuss information that could be included.
What energy projects are (not) included in this data? We have used a broad and inclusive definition of local and community energy to compile this dataset:
Any clean energy activity
- Managed in an open and participative way,
- That has positive local and collective outcomes
That means the data includes any type of collective energy project, irrespective of ownership or legal status, including both public (public schools, municipalities), private collective (schools) and community organisations. This means that residential microgeneration is not included in this dataset, while Iwi, environmental charities, community development organisations, municipal and consumer trusts are included. This distinction highlights the difference between a focus on individual New Zealanders versus participants and/or direct beneficiaries of a collective energy initiative.
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