Hon Simon Watts
Minister for Energy
Minister of Climate Change

The Government has made key decisions on a Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) framework to enable businesses to benefit from storing carbon underground will support New Zealand’s businesses to continue operating while reducing net carbon emissions, Energy and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.

“Economic growth is a key focus for this Government, and we want the energy sector to be the engine for our economy – driving electrification and unlocking economic growth,” Mr Watts says.

“The Government is committed to removing regulatory barriers to enable the supply of abundant, affordable energy to power our homes and businesses – and to reduce net carbon emissions.”

The Government has made decisions on the key elements of a CCUS framework, designed to enable carbon capture and storage in New Zealand, with legislation expected to be introduced this year.

“Under our CCUS framework, businesses that capture and store CO2 will be rewarded through the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), our Government's key tool to reducing net emissions. This will help reduce emissions obligations for New Zealand businesses as we progress towards a low-emissions economy,” Mr Watts says.

“By making these decisions, we are aligning New Zealand with other countries that are successfully utilising CCUS to drive economic growth and attract investment. Our framework not only supports innovation but also provides a pathway for businesses to remain competitive while reducing net emissions.

“Ensuring safe and effective storage of CO2 is critically important. That’s why our framework will require any CCUS project to undertake a thorough assessment of storage site suitability and proposed operations, followed by ongoing monitoring.

“CCUS is gaining momentum internationally as a way to reduce net emissions and support economic growth. In New Zealand, this innovative approach has significant untapped potential of capturing CO2 emissions that would not otherwise benefit Kiwis to create valuable products and materials.

“Our Government’s second emissions reduction plan, which was released at the end of last year, highlighted carbon capture and storage as a key tool to meeting the second and third emissions budgets.”

Notes:

• Implementation of CCUS is estimated to reduce New Zealand’s net CO2 emissions by 1.9 megatonnes over the next two Emission Reduction Plan periods (2026-30 and 2031-35).
• The Government has decided on the high-level features of a regulatory framework for CCUS. This includes:
• Creating an ETS incentive for the storage of CO2 by amending regulatory settings under the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to reward CCUS under the NZ ETS, including by permitting those with existing NZ ETS obligations to claim value from CCUS activities against their existing NZ ETS liabilities.
• Clear requirements to assess the suitability of a proposed storage site, and the proposed operations of the business seeking to inject CO2, before an operation can take place.
• Clear requirements to undertake monitoring of injection operations and stored CO2 to ensure it remains in place, is behaving as predicted and does not leak to the atmosphere or the surrounding environment.
• A Bill to enable any changes required for the CCUS framework is intended to be introduced in 2025.

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