Findings from an ABB survey across themes ranging from geopolitics and investment to innovation and collaboration indicate New Zealand could lead the electric green future.
Anders Maltesen, ABB’s president of Energy Industries Asia, reckons electrification is driving the shift to renewable energy globally and New Zealand stands out with its high share of renewable electricity.
ABB’s Energy Transition Readiness Survey for the Asia-Pacific surveyed 221 senior New Zealand executives from companies with revenues from $15m to more than $1 billion.
At the macro level, 78 percent of respondents believe the current changes in the global geopolitical landscape around climate change and energy transition present an opportunity for APAC companies and business leaders to take more of a global leadership role in these areas.
The country needs to increase electricity use by more than 60 percent to meet its net zero 2050 goal, and the survey signalled a strong impetus towards this goal.
New Zealand already leads the world as a renewable energy powerhouse, and 92 percent of companies both in New Zealand and regionally believe business leaders could be doing more to accelerate energy transition efforts.
“Partnerships to invest strongly in energy efficiency, smart innovation, and building a net-zero workforce can not only secure the energy future but make New Zealand the global model for future human living,” says Anders Maltesen, ABB’s president of Energy Industries Asia.
“New Zealand’s goal to double renewable energy by 2050 is set to gather momentum despite ongoing local and global volatility,” he says.
“Already around 85 percent of the New Zealand grid comes from renewable or natural assets – mainly from hydropower, geothermal and wind energy.
“The national energy profile presents a comparatively strong position in the worldwide push towards a low carbon future and towards reducing the country’s major infrastructure deficit, notably in water and waste,” he says.
As climate change is already an established issue, 66 percent say that changes in global geopolitics are not impacting their organisation’s plans. However, 55 percent still hold some concerns for their energy transition investments.
“Significantly, over the next five years, 77 percent of respondents’ organisations are allocating over 10 percent of their CAPEX to energy transition initiatives,” says Maltesen.
In the coming year, 30 percent (19 percent in the APAC region) predict increases of investment over 50 percent. In the next four to five years’ this rises to 53 percent (41 percent regionally).
Just 39 percent (46 percent regionally) strongly agree that their organisations’ investments are sufficient to meet their energy transition plans or sustainability targets.
Water and Waste Solutions (98 percent) is the most likely sector to receive more than 10 percent of their CAPEX over the next five years, followed by Energy & Power Generation (86 percent), and Data Centres and IT & Technology (both 78 percent).
“Investment is needed on all sides. As New Zealand’s energy consumption rises with population growth and electrification across the board, achieving reduction targets – from home energy bills to country emissions – is about scaling the easiest, most cost-effective transformations,” says Maltesen.
“Behavioural change around energy use is foundational, then it’s about controlling energy use and gravitating to new renewable energy as its cost decreases.
“Ageing infrastructure and processes have a silver lining if policy and investment levers support change. Much like China in the last few decades, energy-efficient technology advancement means New Zealand has a real opportunity to upgrade at reasonable cost, reducing energy consumption and electrifying emergent industries,” he says.
“Gas has played a stabilising role in New Zealand’s energy mix, but the future lies in a diversified portfolio that includes geothermal, hydro, wind, and digitalised grid infrastructure.”
Road to decarbonisation
Automation and digital innovation accelerate the path to decarbonisation, says Maltesen.
In ABB’s survey, 67 percent of New Zealand executives rank technological advancements as one of the drivers seen as having the greatest potential to accelerate the energy transition. Forty-two percent ranked automation and digitalisation among the top three untapped opportunities in their markets’ energy transition, compared to 36 percent regionally.
“ABB supports countries’ energy sectors through our portfolio of electrification, process automation, and digitalisation solutions. As infrastructure grows bigger or more specialised, automation must flex to fit – scaling smartly to meet both mass production and custom demand,” Maltesen says.
“The future of process automation isn’t about ripping out what works today – it’s about building on it. That means evolving in a way that protects past investments while unlocking new possibilities.”
ABB is investing heavily in digital tools sitting on top of its automation systems, and is integrating products using AI. New generation communication technologies such as Ethernet-AP are bridging the gap between operational efficiency and intelligent control.
“Most industrial plants are only using up to about quarter of the data they generate,” says Maltesen. “AI, machine learning, and edge/cloud analytics can help to predict issues, optimise asset performance, reduce energy use, support ESG compliance, and drive smarter, safer, and more sustainable operations.
“By fully harnessing data for insights, we aren’t just automating – we’re creating future-ready, connected operations to lead in innovation and sustainability,” he says.
Collaboration is the cornerstone
Balancing the energy “trilemma” of security, sustainability and affordability demands collaboration and partnerships on all levels – from individuals using energy-efficient appliances, public transport and EVs through to industry, universities, regions and governments supporting each other, according to Maltesen.
“ABB’s survey identified collaboration areas with great potential for the energy transition as: stronger government incentives and subsidies (62 percent); cross-regional government collaboration on grid infrastructure (58 percent); and increased private sector investment (56 percent).
“Collaborations are increasing across countries, regions, industries, and beyond – because you can’t go alone at pace.”
Among examples cited were Japan and South Korea establishing a joint supply network for carbon-neutral fuels; Thailand importing hydropower from Lao PDR; and ABB partnering with Microsoft to integrate Copilot capabilities into our ABB Ability™ Genix Industrial Analytics and AI Suite to offer real-time insights, improve decision-making, and potentially extend asset lifespans by up to 20 percent while reducing unplanned downtime by 60 percent.
ABB Energy Transition Readiness Survey
Energy Transition Perception Gap:
- 92 percent of New Zealand business leaders believe more can be done to accelerate clean energy efforts – despite 60 percent feeling progress is sufficient
- Clearly a disconnect here between optimism and accountability
NEW ZEALAND Punches Above Its Weight in Renewable Adoption:
- Hydropower leads in New Zealand (68 percent), contrasting with solar dominance regionally – positioning New Zealand as an energy profile outlier
- 30 percent of New Zealand organisations already source over half of their energy renewably (25 percent regionally)
NEW ZEALAND is Under reporting Emissions Progress:
- 83 percent of New Zealand companies lack regular public emissions reporting, higher than the regional average (75 percent)
- Only 33 percent have net zero targets
- 33 percent of organisations lack a sustainability plan, compared to 43 percent regionally.
AI and Automation as Key Transition Drivers
- Despite 67 percent citing technological advancements as top accelerants for transition, 65 percent lack confidence in the accuracy of their own systems.
- Another paradox here between optimism and tech readiness – especially as AI becomes more central to decarbonisation efforts.
Green Talent Crisis & Employer Branding Gap
- 59 percent struggle to recruit green talent, with most believing they’re not seen as preferred employers or lack the environmental credibility to attract them.
Big Talk, Small Wallet? Investment Gaps
- While 77 percent are allocating over 10 percent of CAPEX to transition, only 39 percent strongly agree their investments are sufficient for targets.
- Clearly there’s a mismatch between ambition and financial commitment.
About Anders Maltesen
Anders Maltesen is the President of ABB Energy Industries in Asia. For nearly half a century, ABB has led the global Distributed Control Systems (DSC) market, powering mission critical infrastructure across energy, water, metals, chemicals and more – and scale to meet the needs of a growing population. The division is responsible for the delivery of solutions and services that digitalise, automate, and electrify the energy industries to ensure safer, smarter, and more sustainable use of resources across oil and gas, power & water, and the chemicals sectors.
About ABB
ABB is a technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. The company’s solutions connect engineering know-how and software to optimize how things are manufactured, moved, powered and operated. Building on over 140 years of excellence, ABB’s more than 110,000 employees are committed to driving innovations that accelerate industrial transformation. www.abb.com
