LNG terminal decision: Dirty, dumb and expensive – Greenpeace

Greenpeace is slamming the Luxon government’s announcement it will build a liquid natural gas (LNG) import terminal, calling it a dirty, dumb and expensive decision that will leave New Zealanders subsidising more climate pollution through higher electricity bills.

The decision comes despite the expected high cost and high emission intensity of imported LNG. Building the LNG terminal is expected to cost $1 billion, while the cost of imported LNG is expected to be around twice as much per gigajoule as gas from existing onshore reserves.

“Electricity consumers will pay a Luxon Tax on their electricity bills to subsidize the fossil fuel industry,” says Greenpeace Executive Director Russel Norman.

“Instead of investing in clean energy, this Government is choosing to double down on the very fossil fuels that are driving both high power prices and extreme weather events.

“Every additional tonne of fossil fuels burned makes climate change worse. This LNG decision is yet another fossil fuel subsidy from the Luxon government that will mean more floods, storms, and climate fuelled damage.

“It makes no sense to rely on imported and expensive fossil fuels when we have abundant, cheap energy sources right here at home with wind and solar.”

A report by MBIE in 2024 found that there was no need for new fossil fuels to maintain New Zealand’s energy security out to 2050 and reported that wind and solar are the cheapest sources of new electricity generation.

Meanwhile, a 2023 Concept Consulting report found onshore gas reserves alone can supply all needs out to 2050 if Methanex, the company using between one third to a half of the country’s gas to make methanol for export, were to close, which it inevitably will as gas prices rise.

“This Government has made the energy and climate crises worse by dismantling nearly every initiative to decarbonise the energy system. They ditched the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry fund, the NZ Battery Project, and the Gas Transition Plan.

“Businesses are closing because the Government believed its own nonsense that the oil and gas exploration ban was the cause of high electricity prices. It never was and the LNG subsidy will solve nothing,” says Dr Norman.

“They even got rid of the Climate Emergency Response Fund set up to help communities recover from climate disasters. Now, they are planning to use more public money to bankroll fossil fuels for more climate emergencies.

“The Government should be investing in cheap, renewable wind and solar, backed by more storage and demand response, not exposing the country to a volatile global LNG market and locking us into more polluting fossil fuels.”