Photo: Northern Advocate / Michael Cunningham
Northland local government is strongly in favour of Tai Tokerau becoming New Zealand's first renewable energy zone pilot.
Whangārei Mayor Sheryl Mai said Northland councils were sending a loud and clear message to the government that the pilot should be in the region.
Whangārei District Council (WDC) councillor Anna Murphy said the prospect was positive.
"It's exciting times, we are looking to the future. We're looking to the future, not just with renewable energy but collaborating across Northland's four councils," Murphy said.
Whangārei District Council, Far North District Council, Kaipara District Council and Northland Regional Council are jointly working on a submission in favour of the Transpower proposal to make the region New Zealand's first renewable energy zone pilot.
Whangārei District Council on Thursday formally voted to kickstart its official participation in the joint submission's production at a full council meeting. The region's three other councils are all expected to do the same, ahead of the 8 April submission deadline.
Murphy said Northland's local government had to work in favour of the new zone as much as possible.
Whangārei District Council's Te Kārearea Strategic Partnership had indicated the renewable energy zone (REZ) must be created in partnership with hapū, she said.
Northpower and Top Energy have presented to the partnership to understand REZ support.
WDC general manager planning and development Dominic Kula said feedback from this group included the need for the involvement of Te Ao Māori in the REZ pilot.
Mai said the zone's creation would help work towards addressing the current issue of the first renewable energy project to be set up in an area having to shoulder all the costs of supporting infrastructure.
She said new renewable energy production facilities would have to go through Resource Management Act consenting process. This involved consultation with Northlanders and included hapū and business people.
Whangārei Mayor Sheryl Mai said Northland councils were sending a loud and clear message to the government that the pilot should be in the region. Photo: Northern Advocate / Tania Whyte
Councillor Carol Peters said the concept offered opportunity to address business and community energy affordability along with consideration of the environment.
Councillor Ken Couper said the REZ pilot offered supported Northland energy self-sufficiency .
Kula said Transpower was consulting on its proposal to introduce the REZ to New Zealand as a way of facilitating new renewable energy generation investment. This might otherwise be deferred due to the cost of power network upgrading to carry the new energy production.
"The Northland region has been identified as a candidate for New Zealand's first renewable energy zone due to its high renewable generation potential, high developer interest and limited existing transmission and distribution network capacity," Kula said.
The REZ pilot concept has been widely presented to the region's local government including to the Northland Mayoral Forum on 7 March.
Kula said a REZ was where multiple generators such as solar, geothermal or wind farms or major electricity users co-located to share connections to the grid, enabling cost-effective electricity infrastructure investment.
He said Northland had been chosen for the country's REZ pilot because of its significant wind and solar resources. There had already been strong generation investment interest shown with dozens of applications already received by the region's three power network owners.
Kula said Transpower, Northpower and Top Energy had all advised of the need for Northland network upgrades before waiting renewable energy generation projects could go ahead. Parts of the region's power distribution network were already at capacity.
He said a REZ would build greater resilience into Northland. It would also work to make the region a net electricity exporter.
Northland's wind and sun make for major renewable energy interest. Photo: Northern Advocate / Julia Czerwonatis
It had national benefits that included helping New Zealand meet its 100 percent target for this type of production.
It would also increase the upper North Island's energy resilience through having a diversified electricity supply into Auckland, the country's biggest city.
The Northland councils' submission is expected to include the following points:
- Councils looked forward to working with developers and power network owners on renewable projects within New Zealand's regulatory framework.
- The four councils had a 'strong desire' for operators, rather than ratepayers to bear the costs involved.
- A REZ would help achieve Māori land's long-term sustainable use. It would support and strengthen marae and papakainga development.
- Working in partnership with hapū and iwi was critical.
- There was an expectation that, recognising market forces, a REZ would mean reduced power costs for Northland consumers.
- Northland councils' significant regional climate change and adaptation work needed to be taken into REZ establishment consideration.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air