New Zealand has been ranked third for energy security - the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price - in a group of 25 countries.
Huntly Power Station is a thermal plant that can use coal, gas, or both simultaneously as fuel. Photo: GENESIS ENERGY
The ranking comes from the an energy think tank connected with the United States Chamber of Commerce.
Ahead of New Zealand was Norway in the first spot, with Mexico as number two. The United States and Denmark complete the top five.
The list covers mainly developed and large developing countries which together use 80 percent of the world's energy.
At the bottom of the list was Ukraine.
The report attributes New Zealand's security to the fact that it produces all its own gas and coal, thus freeing it from world market pressures.
It also has one of the most diverse power sectors in the large energy user group, with hydroelectricity, natural gas, renewables and coal all having a significant share of total capacity.
But New Zealand also uses more energy to create each dollar of wealth than the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, and its emissions track is worse than the OECD average.
The report's findings have been praised by the chairman of the BusinessNZ Energy Council, David Caygill, as vindicating New Zealand's liberlaised energy markets and stable regulation.
