MBIE modelling showed that in some scenarios, no LNG is needed at all.
Advice that government officials tried to redact shows there is "low need" for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility.
A newly unredacted version of modelling commissioned by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was released to RNZ following a complaint to the Ombudsman.
It shows that in some scenarios, no LNG is needed at all.
But Energy Minister Simeon Brown criticised the modelling report, saying it made "optimistic assumptions".
