New Zealand faces a huge energy gap as Maui gas field nears the end of its life and the Waikato coal supply runs down. How will the industry tackle this challenge and secure the significant investment the energy sector requires to meet increasing demand?

• Teething troubles or steaming ahead?
• Adapting to change
• Ensuring security of supply
• Plans for reserve generation
• Conflicts that may arise and how they will be handled

• Our renewable energy future
• With or without Project Aqua
• The costs of the planning process - will this deter other projects?
• How generation and irrigation fit together
• Opportunities for future investment in renewables

• Likely growth in energy demand
• Options to meet the shortfall in energy supply
• Coal and gas options - availability and cost
• How will coal be acceptable?

• What is DSP in the wholesale market and why is it an issue?
• Real time pricing  - should it be used for settlement?
• Next steps for improving DSP
• Why promote hedge and futures markets?
• International experience of promoting contracts markets
• Using hedge market regulation to achieve a liquid contracts market
• Using a contracts market to reinforce reserve generation and security of supply
• Implications for policies on vertical integration and retail competition

• Current state of the NZ gas market and supply/demand balance
• Why gas remains a preferred fuel
• NZ needs further hydrocarbon discoveries. What’s stopping this?
• Impact of Government policy on energy markets and investment

• The balance of power after 18 years of industry restructuring
• Has the fundamental objective of timely investment in generation been achieved?
• What can users do and what are we doing about ensuring our own energy supply security in this uncertain climate?

• The shape of gas, oil and electricity markets to come
• Adapting to change
• Keeping options open but addressing low lead times
• The market vs central decision-making processes
• Implications for prices
• Other issues arising

• The BassGas Project (overview, status and its importance to Victoria)
• The Kupe gas field
• Comparisons between the Kupe & Yolla gas fields

• Assessing the level of new renewable generation that could be developed
• Gas, coal, LNG or renewables?
• Geothermal – is it the best hope?
• What could happen to encourage more discovery and development of domestic gas fields?
• Addressing long lead times on new generation and fuel sources.

• Will NZ turn to LNG?
• How much is available and how reliable is it?
• Logistical issues – getting it here, converting and transmitting it.
• Looking at case studies in the USA, Japan and Europe. Can NZ benefit too?
• LNG versus new exploration in New Zealand

• Can CO2 Storage provide the answer?
• The technology available out there
• Will it be available at the right time and at the right cost?

• Development of the electricity lines business regulatory regime
• Gas pipelines services regulatory control enquiry
• Key Commission decisions relating to the sector

• Balancing regulation with the need for investment in generation and infrastructure
• Lessons learnt from the past and how this should shape the future
• An overview of current regulatory discussions

• Transpower's proposal for grid augmentation
• Making investments under the new regulatory environment
• How will pricing be affected?
• Obtaining resource consents for new transmission lines

• The Genesis project
• Availability and reliability
• How much backup is needed and what will it cost ?
• Overcoming obstacles to development
• Where will the capital come from and what are other cost factors?

• Regulation – is it justified? If so what form is optimal for NZ consumers?
• Impact of regulation on lines companies
• Macro versus micro economic benefits
• What happens when investment is stalled - the New York crisis all over again?
• What business environment do lines companies want in order to make investment decisions?
• Considerations in financing infrastructure development

• Impact of regulation on investment in infrastructure and new generation
• What the regulators and the industry should know
• Feedback from investors
• Questions being asked
• Likely patterns of investment in the future

• Introducing the LMS100 - the latest breakthrough from GE in gas turbine design
• Designing specifically for the peaking market and the benefits this brings
• Making the most of features such as aero design, intercooler use

• Energy and environmental policy goals
• National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy
• Role of the Electricity Commission
• Avoiding electricity crises - reserve generation
• The need for investment in the transmission grid
• Resource Management Act

• A look at best practice in the energy sector.
• Is NZ Inc better off?

• Uptake of energy efficiency?
• The role of renewables
• Effects with and without Aqua
• What is the Government’s view of the trade-off between cost and security?
• How can the Government reduce uncertainty over the level of the carbon charge?
• How can the Government facilitate the resource consent process whilst ensuring sound environmental outcomes?