Hau Ariki Marae has first Wairarapa energy implant

Hau Ariki Marae in Martinborough is the first Wairarapa site to win funding for solar PV panels and a battery storage system to support community resilience in an emergency. 

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has confirmed it has entered a funding contract with the Hau Ariki Marae Trust to supply the emergency energy system. 

In a statement, MBIE said while the details are confidential, “each of the selected North Island community buildings is funded … for an average of $88,000 for the supply and installation of an average 26kW of solar PV panels and 38kWh battery.”

MBIE noted that the solar panels and battery system will enable Hau Ariki Marae, “with improved energy resilience, to support the community in civil defence responses and electricity grid outages.”

Approximately $6.5m from MBIE’s Community Renewable Energy Fund is being allocated to up to 70 communities in North Island regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events. 

Hau Ariki Marae is the sole Wairarapa facility so far funded by the project.

Some 14 of the 28 sites selected to date are in the Tairawhiti/Hawkes Bay areas.

Suitable community buildings – like marae, churches, halls and schools have been identified in collaboration with government agencies, local authorities, Civil Defence Emergency Management and Cyclone Recovery staff, and community and Māori organisations involved in recovery efforts.

The Community Renewable Energy Fund  supports government’s effort to build energy resilience in communities and trial innovative ways to store and distribute locally generated electricity.

“We’ve seen just how important it is for communities to rally together in major events. By installing solar energy systems on key buildings … particularly in more remote areas, we’re building stronger, more resilient communities,” former Labour minister Megan Woods said last September when the project was launched.