2021 Annual Shareholder Meeting

Contact Energy Limited Level 2 Harbour City Tower, 29 Brandon Street, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 10742, Wellington 6143
P: +64 4 499 4001 | F: +64 4 499 4003 | W: contactenergy.co.nz

10 November 2021


Chair’s address to ASM
On behalf of the Contact Energy Board of directors, today I'm very pleased to be sharing
some observations on the year, our strategic ambitions, and taking a brief moment to look
ahead to the future possibilities and opportunities for Contact as we pursue our strategy to
play a leading role in the decarbonisation of New Zealand.
2021 has been a year in which we have achieved a lot, stared down some significant
challenges, kicked off a phase of growth and change, continued to deliver returns for our
shareholders, and ensured the company is well-positioned for future success.
Before I start though I would like to acknowledge Mike and the Contact leadership team and
everyone at Contact who has put their energy in day-after-day. Even with the challenges of
the COVID-19 pandemic, which continue to this very day, Contact’s people have
consistently delivered.
Well done and thank you.
Strategy
The Contact26 strategy was developed in the latter half of 2020 and sets out the company’s
plan of action for the five years until 2026. We presented this to investors at our Capital
Markets Day in May. The pursuit of this strategy sees Contact ushering in a time of
significant change and adaptation, as we position for growth.
Our focus is on leading New Zealand’s decarbonisation efforts, and leading the transition
away from reliance on fossil fuels. New Zealand is privileged to start the decarbonisation
journey with a low-carbon electricity system.
As demand for electricity grows with industry and transport decarbonising, Contact will bring
new renewable projects to market to meet that increased demand. These will follow in the
footsteps of the world-class Tauhara geothermal project.
The highlight of the year was final decision to proceed with the Tauhara project in February.
We are absolutely delighted that market conditions allowed us to proceed with this important
development that had been in the planning stages for more than a decade.
Tauhara is not just important for Contact, but for New Zealand. It is a major post-COVID-19
private sector investment, and will have a substantial impact on the country’s transition to
becoming 100 per cent renewable-energy.
In March we also successfully completed a $400m equity raise which was heavily over-
subscribed. This was to initially reduce net debt and provide financial flexibility to fund the
Tauhara project and other future growth projects. The capital raise gives us the flexibility to
execute on up to $800m of additional projects beyond Tauhara.
And now we are under way with a new $200m capital bond. The bonds will be certified as
‘green’ by the Climate Bonds Initiative as part of our green borrowing programme and will be

Chair’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
2
New Zealand’s first certified green capital bonds. This continues Contact’s leadership in the
sustainable financing area with all bi-lateral bank facilities converted to sustainability-linked
loans earlier this year and all eligible debt certified as ‘green’.
The Bonds provide investors with another opportunity to invest in Contact as one of New
Zealand’s leading renewable energy companies. The proceeds from the issue of the capital
bonds will be used to refinance Contact’s maturing green bond and to finance renewable
generation developments and upgrades and other green assets.
We believe hybrid securities such as these capital bonds are an effective capital
management tool, and we intend to maintain these instruments as a key feature of the
company’s capital structure into the future.
On the subject of growth projects, this year we entered an exclusive partnership with wind
generation experts Roaring40s to develop a pipeline of large-scale wind generation assets.
We also acquired the specialist geothermal service company Western Energy, and in July
we released a report we have been working on with Meridian Energy that examines the
potential to develop green hydrogen at scale in the South Island.
Projects like Tauhara and other potential geothermal developments, the work that Western
Energy does to make geothermal production more efficient, the work that Simply Energy
does to help new and existing industries access low carbon energy, examining the potential
of hydrogen, and investigating the best wind projects, will all play an important role in New
Zealand’s transition to a low-carbon future.
The Contact26 strategy gives momentum to these important projects and many others
across the company. This includes using automation and digitisation to simplify experiences,
and expanding into new products and plans to help our mass market customers
decarbonise.
Contact26 was underpinned by two significant shifts in our operating environment. First, Rio
Tinto announced it would extend the operation of New Zealand’s Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai
Point – a major source of demand for the energy sector – until the end of 2024.
And second, we see continued acceleration in stakeholder expectations and regulatory
pressure around natural resource management, particularly climate change, and the drive
for action to reduce New Zealand’s CO2 emissions.
Tiwai
Contact is pleased to have played its part in helping to secure the Tiwai resolution, which
has provided much-needed certainty that the transition away from this significant source of
demand can be achieved in an orderly way.
We supply Meridian with a hedge contract for around 17% of the electricity needed to power
the Tiwai smelter. Late last month some selective analysis emerged from the Electricity
Authority’s wholesale market competition review, questioning the merits of the deal and
making some puzzling assertions about how the wholesale market might perform if the
smelter abruptly shut its doors.
Frankly we do not agree with the EA’s criticism of the short-term deal to ensure the smelter
continued its operations until 2024.

Chair’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
3
Our view is that enabling Tiwai to stay open until at least the end of 2024 was the right thing
to do for several reasons including:
 providing a window of certainty for an economic transition of Southland;
 allowing time to plan for the ultimate exit of New Zealand’s largest energy user;
 at a pragmatic level, it meant the spectre of large spills of water trapped in the lower
South Island have been avoided while further investment by Transpower in the lower
South Island is made; and
 for Contact it meant there was sufficient market certainty to invest in renewable
energy projects like Tauhara that was green lighted in February and is under
construction now.
I know Mike and the team will be providing Contact’s views via the submission process but I
think it is important to note that we find the EA’s concerns perplexing and unhelpful in terms
of providing the market with the certainty needed to drive investment in the significant
amount of renewable energy projects the country is going to need over the coming decades.
There is also an implication that we act only in self-interest. That is wrong. Our approach is
much more holistic. For example, in the case of the Tiwai deal, among other things we
considered the impact on Southland, the impact on New Zealand, the impact on the
environment, and the impact on the country’s decarbonisation goals.
We were very motivated to avoid an immediate, sudden, short-term exit that would likely
have been followed by a disorderly exit of thermal generation assets from the New Zealand
grid. As the recent blackout issue highlights, there is an ongoing reliance on thermal assets
for some time.
When they go they need to go in an orderly way to ensure reliability of the grid and ensure
investor confidence in the market is retained.
The fact that not only Contact, but also other market participants, have announced
significant investments subsequent to the Tiwai renewal highlights the importance of a stable
environment if New Zealand wants to transition to a more renewable system at pace.
Market settings
We strongly advocate that the New Zealand electricity market settings are appropriate and
we remain the envy of many countries for our ability to balance the three parts of the energy
trilemma: security of supply, affordability, and sustainability.
As Carl Hansen, the former chief executive of the Electricity Authority said in August this
year:
“The electricity reforms of the 1990s delivered a world-class electricity system.
Today, electricity is more affordable here than in most other OECD countries. It is
also green, with renewables generating more than 80% of our electricity. Only
Norway and Iceland have more. Renewables will likely generate more than 90% of
our electricity later this decade. The 1990s reforms also improved reliability.
New Zealand achieves this trifecta of affordable, green, reliable electricity without
using subsidies – possibly the only country in the OECD to do so. Renewables
compete on a level playing field with thermal generation – and win.”

Chair’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
4
There is a direct correlation between regulatory interference and markets getting distorted
and malfunctioning, as we can see in Europe and elsewhere at the moment.
We need to be sure any changes are well-considered and ensure confidence is maintained
to enable further investment in renewables. Renewable investments require significant
amounts of capital and to maintain support from investors we need to minimise uncertainty
and ensure we do not tip up the confidence of the capital markets. Let’s not make it harder
to get renewable projects away at a reasonable cost.
There is no doubt that over the long term, recent high wholesale electricity prices are not
sustainable. But an environment that solves this issue by encouraging more investment in
lower cost renewable generation and technologies is a much better option than one stifled
by uncertainty and additional regulation. The market is signalling for people to invest and
they are investing.
Financials
On the financial front the last year has been a solid one – a year in which we have continued
to deliver solid returns for our shareholders and made significant moves to ensure the
company is well-positioned for the future.
We delivered a strong financial result after successfully navigating:
 the potential departure of major energy users;
 the short-term issues around low rainfall in the hydro catchments; and
 the ongoing challenges around reliable gas supply.
As signalled last year, the dividend policy was revised to target a pay-out ratio of between 80
and 100 per cent of the average operating free cash flow of the preceding four financial
years. This saw the Board approve a final cash dividend of 21 cents per share and deliver
investors a 35 cents per share annual dividend, down slightly from 39 cents per share in
previous year.
People
On a personal note, I would like to acknowledge the departure of two directors from the
Board. In March Whaimutu Dewes departed after more than 10 years on the Contact Board.
And in August we farewelled Dame Therese Walsh from the Board as she left to focus on
her other governance roles.
Both Whai and Dame Therese have made considerable contributions to Contact and I would
like to thank them both very much, and wish them both well. Whai remains an advisor to the
company.
In March we were joined at the Board by, Rukumoana Schaafhausen. Ruku holds a range of
governance roles at various organisations and has strong iwi connections and experience.
We are delighted to have her strong values, diverse thinking, and passion for Aotearoa on
the Contact Board.
We also welcomed Sandra Dodds to the Board in September. Sandra resides across the
Tasman and brings an international infrastructure perspective, as well as strong financial
skills and executive and governance experience.

Chair’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
5
The Board is a robust environment, full of talented people and a wide range of perspectives.
You are in good hands. Thank you to Victoria, Elena, Sandra, Rukumoana, David and Jon
for your commitment and dedication around the Board table over the year.
I think we can all be proud of the important contribution Contact is making to New Zealand. It
remains a strong participant in New Zealand’s efficient, competitive energy market, and will
be a leader in the country’s decarbonisation.
We are entering a phase of significant change and your company is well-positioned for
growth as we focus on leading New Zealand’s energy transition.
I’m looking forward to seeing what can be achieved in line with the Contact26 strategy, as
we build a better future for New Zealand and create value for all stakeholders, alongside
sustainable success for our shareholders over the long term.
And finally, I would like to express my thanks to our shareholders for tuning in today and for
your ongoing support as investors in Contact Energy. We appreciate your commitment to
Contact’s ongoing success and we appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today.
Ngā mihi nui.

- ends -

Investor enquiries
Matthew Forbes
Ph +64 21 072 8578

Media enquiries
Paul Ford
paul.ford@contactenergy.co.nz
Ph +64 21 809 589

---

Contact Energy Limited Level 2 Harbour City Tower, 29 Brandon Street, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 10742, Wellington 6143
P: +64 4 499 4001 | F: +64 4 499 4003 | W: contactenergy.co.nz

10 November 2021


CEO’s address to ASM
I’m delighted to be sharing my perspectives on another action-packed and opportunity-laden
year for Contact, having completed my first full year as CEO.
I feel a huge sense of pride and satisfaction at all that the team at Contact has achieved
over the past year.
I’m proud that we have continued our strong performance and positioned ourselves well for
the future. As we look to FY22 and beyond, there is a lot more to do – it is a very exciting
time to be involved in the electricity sector.
We have had a significant strategic reset with Contact26, which was delivered in the second
half of FY21 and has ushered in an exciting new chapter for the business.
As Rob mentioned, at the heart of Contact26 is our commitment to building a better New
Zealand and leading the country’s decarbonisation. We are doing this by:
 growing demand for New Zealand’s renewable electricity;
 developing new, renewable, flexible electricity generation;
 decarbonising our own portfolio; and
 creating outstanding customer experiences.
The key enablers of our strategy are:
 our commitments to strong environmental, social and governance practices;
 a relentless focus on operational excellence; and
 the ongoing transformation of how we work together.
We are well-positioned to deliver our strategy. We have a strong platform with our existing
knowledge and capabilities in decarbonisation. We have the renewable assets and
development pipeline we need to provide firm and flexible electricity supply at a reasonable
price. And we have considerable flexibility in our portfolio both now and for the future.
We also have the people with the passion, capability and commitment to deliver.
Advances in technology and the improving economics will accelerate the shift toward
electrification across the economy. Fossil fuel input costs have rapidly risen, with carbon
costs doubling over the past two years. Gas prices are rising as supply becomes less
secure. Meanwhile the cost of green technologies has fallen, as new uses like green
hydrogen emerge and electric vehicle production gains scale.
The upshot is that clean, low-cost, renewable electricity will be increasingly attractive and in
hot demand. And we are ready to respond. We are more than ready. We are in action.

CEO’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
2
Tauhara...
The decision in February to proceed with the development of the Tauhara geothermal power
station was a huge milestone of the company and a highlight of the year.
An enormous amount of complex work went into the project ahead of the final investment
decision: research, preparation, discussion, listening and engineering wizardry must happen
before an investment like this can get off the ground.
It has been a long time coming, with some of the people involved at Contact since the initial
phase of investigation kicked off more than 10 years ago. Having visited the site several
times this year – but not as much as I would like given pandemic restrictions – it is hugely
exciting seeing this take shape in the central North Island.
The team showed much perseverance, resilience and patience in the pre-investment
decision chapter and now there is an enormous amount of mahi going into the construction
effort. We have a fantastic team from within and beyond Contact who will ensure it is a
world-class power station that everyone can be very proud of.
Delivering this project, in these unusual times and amid disrupted supply chains should not
be underestimated: so far the project team have shown that they are more than up to the
task. Given the favourable reservoir conditions we have encountered in our drilling to date,
we have commenced studies as to how we can increase the final capacity of the plant to as
much as 165 MW. This may require additional cost, but I can assure you it will be very, very
reasonable compared to the cost of a greenfield site. As we get conclusions from the
studies, we will update you.
Linked to Tauhara is the trio of long-term ‘power purchase agreements’ announced with
Genesis Energy, forestry products manufacturer Pan Pac and pulp and paper company Oji.
These amount to three terrific votes of confidence from customers who are willing to make
long-term commitments to support renewable generation development and are exactly the
type of long-term commercial arrangements needed to underpin the acceleration of
renewable energy investment in this country.
We want to grow demand for renewable electricity by displacing thermal generation and
deals like this help make that happen. And that will ultimately be good for New Zealand both
in terms of reducing carbon emissions and keeping electricity prices as low as possible.
...and beyond
It does not stop with Tauhara. We are actively looking at how we can bring more geothermal
development forward in response to the clear market signals – long may these continue.
And we are under way with innovative options including increased generation efficiency from
our existing assets (for example, new and improved turbines; gas tolling deals; refined
geothermal processes) and exploring options around wind, solar and the potential
development of a battery in the North Island.
We’re also excited about our work with Meridian Energy to investigate the potential of a
large scale, renewable hydrogen production facility in the lower South Island. The Southern
Green Hydrogen project could be trailblazer that sees a new industry deliver long-term
economic value for New Zealand while helping to decarbonise our economy and parts of the
world’s economy too. We received huge interest in the project from around the world and are
currently in the process of refining the interest into a short list and establish the best options
for progressing this project.

CEO’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
3
Another major focus is on the retail business where our energy is going into creating
outstanding customer experiences. This commitment has seen us grow our net promoter
score across all of our customer ‘touchpoints’ by 39 points over the past five years in a
highly competitive market. Our plans for a high profile brand campaign have been postponed
due to production complications around Covid19 but look out for that in the New Year.
In line with our plans to increase customer connections by expanding into new products and
services, we now have close to 60,000 broadband connections and we are New Zealand’s
fastest-growing broadband provider. We had zero broadband connections four years ago.
Blackout
A lowlight of the year were the unfortunate outages for more than 30,000 households on 9
August, including around 5000 Contact customers who we provided with a credit as a
gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience.
We had all of our available generation in the market at the time, including hydro generation
(Clutha scheme), geothermal generation (central North Island) and thermal generation (Te
Rapa, Whirinaki and the gas peakers at Stratford).
We have been contributing to the various investigations that have ensued the August event
and we are very keen to better understand the details of what happened. One thing that
does seem clear is that there needs to be a better way of communicating outages like this to
everyone who might be affected, especially consumers.
TWoW / COVID
We know the success of our strategy hinges on our people being ready and excited to
execute. We have a fantastic team, engagement is high, and we are building our capability
to support growth.
We are building on our Transformative Ways of Working (TWoW) programme and
continuing to re-engineer the way we work. Our strong – and improving – engagement
survey results show we are definitely moving in the right direction, but we will need to keep
evolving and improving.
Our team has also continued to demonstrate great resilience in the face of the ongoing
Covid19 restrictions and level changes throughout the year. Our Auckland-based team is
well set up to work from home, but has undoubtedly been doing it tough as the lockdowns
continue in the City of Sails.
With the support of the leadership team and the Board, I have been a passionate advocate
for encouraging our people to get vaccinated. We welcome the Government’s expanded
mandates around requiring vaccination and we are looking forward to the details of the
looming guidance around risk assessments for roles that will require vaccination.
We have several roles across the company where our risk assessments have shown that
up-to-date vaccination status will be very important in maintaining our lifeline utility
capability. And more broadly, we may arrive where others have too: one of the key ways of
keeping indoor environments shared by groups of people safe is to only allow fully
vaccinated individuals into them. We'll be moving into the consultation phase with our people
very soon.

CEO’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
4
LT changes
We have had some changes to our leadership team this year. Our Chief Customer Officer
Vena Crawley left in April 2021, our Deputy CEO James Kilty left in August to be the CEO at
electricity distributor Powerco, and our Chief Corporate Affairs Officer & General Counsel
Catherine Thompson resigned last month. All have made significant contributions to Contact
over a long time and we wish them well in the future.
We have also had a series of senior appointments, with:
 Jacqui Nelson joining the Leadership Team in July 2020 as Chief Generation Officer
and recently moving into a new role as Chief Development Officer.
 Jack Ariel joined the LT and took up the new role of Major Projects Director in April.
Jack is responsible for overseeing the execution of all major surface engineering
projects, starting with the Tauhara power station development.
 Iain Gauld joined the LT as Chief Information Officer in September, alongside our
Chief Digital Officer, Tighe Wall.
 And in October, Matt Bolton was appointed as our Chief Retail Officer.
It is good to have the bulk of the leadership team now in place and poised to deliver on the
growth and transformation agenda we have set out earlier this year.
Financial performance
This year we delivered a strong financial performance with EBITDAF up 24 per cent year-on-
year to $553m, and profit up significantly to $187m from $125m a year ago.
Operating earnings were up by $107m on FY20, partially offset by increased depreciation on
thermal generation stations and higher tax to pay on the improved financial performance.
We did an outstanding job in securing gas supply to ensure we could continue to generate
electricity when renewable generation options were constrained by weather for most of the
second half of the year.
Although we expect continued reliance on higher cost fuel sources over the short-term,
these will be displaced over the next few years as the more than three terawatt hours of low-
carbon, renewable generation plants come on stream, including our geothermal
development at Tauhara.
Operating free cash flow for FY21 was $371m, up 28 per cent on FY20 with higher operating
earnings and lower interest costs. This was partially offset by higher stay-in-business capital
spending to support our scheduled geothermal outages.
Our results are underpinned by continued smart channel management of our flexible
portfolio of gas-fired and renewable assets, continued operational excellence, strong asset
availability, and a strong financial position.
You will have seen from our operating stats that we have made a strong start to FY22
across the board, maintaining the momentum from FY21 into Q1 FY22.

CEO’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
5
The future
While we can be proud of our FY21 performance and results, and the ground we have taken
to assure future growth, there is no room for complacency.
Our retail landscape continues to change with the sale of Trustpower announced in June.
We’re looking forward to the challenges or changes this brings to the market – after all,
competition drives us to evolve faster and it will bring out the best in us for our customers.
We continue to see volatility in the wholesale market too, underpinned by the increase in gas
shortages and gas field issues over the past three years and the impact on investment that
accompanied the Tiwai Point smelter’s threatened closure.
There is no doubt flexible thermal generation will be required as New Zealand transitions to
100 per cent renewable. But market stability encourages investment in sustainable
generation and we have made a good start with more than two terawatt hours of low-carbon
renewable generation projects set to come on stream across the sector in the next three
years.
As an industry we will need to expedite sensible decarbonisation, while maintaining security
of supply and affordability. One action we’ve taken on that front is to start engaging about an
option to consolidate New Zealand’s thermal generation arrangements into one entity, which
we have dubbed ‘Thermal Co’.
As the market transitions to lower carbon solutions, we are likely to see sub-optimal levels of
capacity from intermittent renewables, for example, for demand peaks or dry periods.
Additional flexibility from fast-start thermal generation will continue to be needed during the
transition, however asset owners will struggle to make economic returns as the frequency of
use declines.
We believe consolidating thermal assets into a new ‘Thermal Co’ could encourage electricity
generation from coal and gas-fired plants in ways that are aligned with New Zealand’s
decarbonisation objectives, ensuring affordable, ongoing stable electricity supply, and we
will be sharing more details on our current thinking next week.
There is a further stake in the ground for our industry with the goals and challenges set out
in the Climate Change Commission’s advice to the Government in June. Our response at
Contact is unequivocal: we are up for the challenge.
Let’s get moving.
It is a hugely exciting time to be involved in the electricity sector. As a country and a
company we have some audacious goals. We are confident we can deliver and we are
looking forward to it.
Thanks
Some brief acknowledgements before I finish.
I would like to thank Rob and the Board for their support over the past year.

CEO’s address to ASM | 10 November 2021 | Contact Energy Ltd
6
A huge thank you to the Contact team for their commitment to doing a great job. None of this
would be possible without our people.
Thank you to our customers and suppliers.
Thank you to our neighbours. We live, work and operate in communities across the country,
and we know our actions impact on the people and environment around us. We will keep
striving to be the neighbour you want to have.
And thank you to you – our investors – we appreciate your continued support of Contact.
Ngā mihi nui.

- ends -

Investor enquiries
Matthew Forbes
Ph +64 21 072 8578

Media enquiries
Paul Ford
paul.ford@contactenergy.co.nz
Ph +64 21 809 589