T\u0101h\u016bh\u016b rangap\u016b\/group chief executive Grant Huwyler says the iwi have spent the past five years exploring a 280-megawatt wind and solar-powered hydrogen development on their Harakeke block near Whanganui, in partnership with Taranaki-based clean energy company Hiringa Energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re five years deep in this,\u201d Huwyler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the stars align, boom! It could go. If they don\u2019t align, it might fall over.\u201d<\/p>\n
The iwi see the potential development not only as a commercial opportunity capable of generating long-term returns, but as a contribution to reducing emissions in heavy transport, one of the country\u2019s hardest-to-decarbonise sectors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve spent a lot of time positioning ourselves to play a role in renewable energy,\u201d Huwyler told Local Democracy Reporting.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur rohe is affected by hydro electricity that has already impacted our three main catchments \u2013 Whangaehu, Turakina and Rangit\u012bkei \u2013 and we want to promote renewable energy that has no further impact on water flows and aquatic ecosystems in our rohe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a good wind resource that comes across land we own, and we have two groups talking to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101 Wairiki-Ng\u0101ti Apa t\u0101h\u016bh\u016b rangap\u016b\/group chief executive Grant Huwyler. Photo \/ Moana Ellis<\/p>\n
One is a renewables corporate multinational that wants to build a wind farm south of Turakina and in the Santoft Forest and its vicinity, and the other is Hiringa Energy, with which the iwi have a 50-50 development partnership.<\/p>\n
Huwyler describes the development plans as massively ambitious.<\/p>\n
The original proposal would combine wind and solar generation to power electrolysis \u2013 splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen \u2013 to produce green hydrogen.<\/p>\n
If realised, it would produce commercial quantities of low-carbon fuel aimed at decarbonising New Zealand\u2019s emissions-intensive heavy transport sector.<\/p>\n
\u2018Strong demand\u2019<\/p>\n
As global markets shift more slowly than expected, the focus has broadened to include green methanol for marine transport, and potentially sustainable aviation fuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe changed our focus from green hydrogen distribution to green hydrogen, then green methanol production,\u201d Huwyler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s strong demand for that product out there in Asia, where it\u2019s used to fuel ships.\u201d<\/p>\n
For iwi leadership, the project represents both economic opportunity and an expression of kaitiakitanga across ancestral lands shaped by generations of Paerangi, Turi and Apa-Hapai-Taketake descendants.<\/p>\n
The integrated wind and solar-to-hydrogen and methanol project centres on about 280 megawatts of combined renewable generation and around 100 megawatts of electrolysis capacity to produce roughly 15,000 tonnes a year of green hydrogen.<\/p>\n
That hydrogen could be combined with green carbon dioxide to manufacture up to 90,000 tonnes a year of green methanol.<\/p>\n
Backers say the proposal benefits from a high-quality wind resource, affordable renewable electricity, access to biogenic carbon dioxide from excess forestry biomass, existing methanol infrastructure and developing offtake discussions with shipping companies building vessels for the Asia Pacific and ultimately the New Zealand market.<\/p>\n
Hiringa \u2013 a M\u0101ori word meaning perseverance, energy, determination and vitality \u2013 already operates a green hydrogen refuelling network and is developing hydrogen supply chains across Asia-Pacific.<\/p>\n
It positions the joint venture as a high-potential near-term \u201cPower-to-X\u201d opportunity in the emerging e-methanol market.<\/p>\n
Rare opportunity<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re quite fortunate to own significant areas of land where there happens to be a really good wind resource coming across that land,\u201d Huwyler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt puts us in a position to take a massive step forward with our entire picture of development. These opportunities are quite rare.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the project remains in the business case phase, Ng\u0101 Wairiki-Ng\u0101ti Apa\u2019s ambition is clear: equity, ownership and long-term returns.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a landowner. But one thing we\u2019ve learned from watching other iwi who have had similar or related opportunities is that there are ways you can structure these developments where you do get an equity interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just about opening up our land for development, it\u2019s about doing that plus achieving some level of equity and ownership in the businesses that are set up there,\u201d Huwyler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s definitely our ambition. You\u2019re constantly looking for people who have those same values and that empathy for indigenous development, who would welcome that opportunity to have you as an owner in their business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wind turbines may sweep across Rangit\u012bkei skies as part of Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101 Wairiki-Ng\u0101ti Apa\u2019s vision for a 280-megawatt wind and solar-powered hydrogen and methanol development on its Harakeke block near Whanganui.<\/p>\n
The potential is \u201cmassive, massive\u201d. But Huwyler cautions that final investment decisions are still years away. The iwi are targeting 2028 to lock those in, with construction potentially taking several years beyond that.<\/p>\n
Success would mean \u201cdevelopment on our land, returns from the land, ownership in some or all of the various stages in that value chain \u2026 employment\u201d.<\/p>\n
For Huwyler, who as a teenager wrote the Ng\u0101ti Apa Manawhenua Report \u2013 still being referenced by his iwi today \u2013 climate leadership is inseparable from iwi identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cTotally. We\u2019re committed to our responsibility as kaitiaki and kaitiakitanga. That needs to play out in all of our operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Harakeke vision includes restoring up to half of the 390ha block to wetland alongside industrial development.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re going to do economic development here, we do the environmental development there and try to keep it in balance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging the environmental trade-offs of wind turbines and hydrogen production \u2013 including water use and turbine materials \u2013 Huwyler said the iwi are determined to help lead New Zealand\u2019s energy transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be a part of that story with Hiringa of New Zealand\u2019s transition to decarbonised fuels \u2026 that\u2019s really cool.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can get a plant of this nature up and working on our Harakeke site, it could be done in multiple locations around New Zealand rather than trying to have one big-scale site. There\u2019s an alternative thinking that smaller regionalised plants are the way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"T\u0101h\u016bh\u016b rangap\u016b\/group chief executive Grant Huwyler says the iwi have spent the past five years exploring a 280-megawatt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4523,95,162225,1863,23748,138,124,170,1667,162227,2518,41227,50521,661,15399,6077,3180,111,139,86229,69,54921,3263,9999,162226,27051,8229,162224,1883],"class_list":{"0":"post-293194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-ambitious","9":"tag-and","10":"tag-apa","11":"tag-back","12":"tag-backing","13":"tag-business","14":"tag-could","15":"tag-development","16":"tag-energy","17":"tag-forefront","18":"tag-green","19":"tag-hydrogen","20":"tag-iwi","21":"tag-major","22":"tag-massive","23":"tag-methanol","24":"tag-near","25":"tag-new-zealand","26":"tag-newzealand","27":"tag-ng","28":"tag-nz","29":"tag-positioning","30":"tag-project","31":"tag-renewable","32":"tag-rnanga","33":"tag-themselves","34":"tag-they","35":"tag-wairikingti","36":"tag-whanganui"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}