New chair for GasNZ

Nick Hannan, New Zealand general manager for Australasian LPG supplier Elgas, was recently voted in as GasNZ board chair, replacing outgoing chair Ben Gerritsen.

Nick says he has been handed the reins of a very well-positioned association, and that already GasNZ has come a long way since the merger earlier this year.

“We're well placed from Ben’s work and the fantastic job Janet Carson has done in putting us on the map both locally and internationally, so that makes it easier for me.”

“But with a new government coming in, it’s now about working out how best to position gas with that government, and consumers,” he says.

“It's a given that the drive for decarbonisation will continue and I think that's the responsible thing to do for the world.

“There’s a major drive towards renewables, and we will be keeping focus on that. We will also be emphasising that gas is here today and it plays a massive role in the energy environment and that isn’t going to change overnight.”

In his view, there’s no “black and white” in terms of energy strategy – it’s not a case of either fossil fuel or renewable.

“We're going to need every type of energy we can get to meet the world demand.

“That's going to include gas. It’s going to include renewable fuels, it's going to include solar, it's going to include wind.

“It's going to be a range of potential fuel sources.

“Unfortunately, some of the more extreme lobby groups tend to take a black and white position and that’s just not realistic in my view.”

Nick says we’re facing a big educational challenge – continuing on the path that Janet has started and carrying this through with the new CEO replacing Janet next year.

“This means helping people - whether it be government, whether it be officials, the public or industry – to understand the key role that gas plays and will continue to play in a renewable future”.

Part of the message will need to be around how we enable renewables, because there are challenges in building a local industry.

“New Zealand’s geography and the dispersed nature of its population mean that it’s not a simple logistical or financial exercise to develop economically viable production facilities for renewable gas. Government support will be necessary to establish a renewable market and incentivise investment.

“It’s not necessarily going to be profitable from day one.”

Moving on from 2019 when the Climate Change Commission proposed a ban on new connections, there is now a much clearer recognition of the role gas has to play in the energy transition and the tone of conversation from the government now reflects that, which is welcome, he says.

“We’re on a positive path, but we can’t be complacent.”