Officials celebrate as critical threat to power supply is averted: 'It buys us time'

New Zealand relies on hydro lakes for much of its electricity, so it was a relief when the rain finally came after the driest start to the year on record.

According to The Press, wet and windy weather in mid-March topped up Lake Pūkaki by almost 12 centimeters. The last time rain topped the country's largest hydro storage lake was in late 2024.

As the United States Department of Energy (DOE) observed, hydro storage lakes can also be called pumped storage hydropower. When there is a high supply of electricity or low demand, the water "is pumped from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir." When there is high demand or low electricity, "water from the upper reservoir is released to the lower reservoir, generating electricity as it moves down through a turbine."

According to The Press, "60% of New Zealand's electricity comes from hydro generation."

Meridian general manager wholesale Chris Ewers told the publication that the company's lake storage is the equivalent of 15 weeks of average electricity generation.

The Waiau catchment saw almost 300 millimeters of rain, while the Waitaki catchment saw less than that. However, it equals three weeks of storage for the town of Manapōuri.

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Ewers said, "It buys us time," but he added, "We do need more rain to fall over the next couple of months to support us over winter, but it was still very welcome."

According to the DOE, "hydropower provides low-cost electricity and durability over time compared to other sources of energy."

It provides other benefits like clean drinking water, irrigation support, and flood control.

Hydropower is also a booming industry, employing 65,000 people in the U.S. The DOE said it "could grow to 120,000 jobs by 2030 and 158,000 by 2050."

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Besides being a cheap energy source and a growing industry, hydropower creates renewable energy. It's fueled by water that propels a turbine, which means it doesn't rely on dirty energy sources. Therefore, it doesn't release polluting gases into the atmosphere or diminish air quality.

According to the International Hydropower Association, hydroelectricity was first used to power a lamp in a "country house in Northumberland, England, in 1878." Four years later, the first U.S. hydropower plant was opened in Wisconsin.