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Our plan to reduce emissions

We have focused on managing our emissions in three main areas:

• Sulphur hexafluoride
• Office-based emissions

Sulphur hexafluoride

In 2009-2010 Tanspower achieved it's lowest sulphur hexafluoride releases, relative to our total sulphur hexafluoride holdings, 0.84%.  Because of the significance of lost sulphur hexafluoride (from a global warming perspective), we continue to look for ways to improveme our sulphur hexafluoride handling and management.

One way we are doing this is through our continuing commitment to our Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry for the Environment, which requires sulphur hexafluoride emissions to be below 2% of installed nameplate capacity and annual reporting on our sulphur hexafluoride inventory and emissions.

We have gone beyond this in setting an internal target that aims to make emissions from sulphur hexafluoride no more than 1% of our total sulphur hexafluoride holdings.

Office-based emissions

Transpower has set a goal to reduce office-base emissions (per full time employee) by 20% of the 2005-2006 level by 2011-12.

Office emissions are increasing in real terms. This is partialy due to increases in business vehicle emissions, although emissions from domestic and international flights have reduced. However staff numbers have grown in the period and emissions per full time employee have reduced for the third year in a row.

Achieving this goal is a challenge, however there are measures in place to help us towards it, including:

• Following an audit of electricity use in our Hamilton office, which has had unusually high consumption levels, work to implement improvement recommendations.
• Continuing to improve vid-con technology to provide an alternative to flying to other offices for meetings.
• Undertaking a survey of staff travel and develop a plan to seek improvements.