Solar panels and energy storage equipment will be installed on eight Ngāti Wai Marae along Te Ākau Roa o Ngātiwai (the eastern coastline from the Bay of Islands to Mahurangi, Auckland), creating a Ngāti Wai virtual power network.
The initiative will make the iwi more energy independent and is part of the $28 million pledged to the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund.
Surplus power from marae solar panels will be shared with rural homes under the kaupapa of Te Poari o Ngāti Wai known as Te Rangi Paki o Ngāti Wai, with a focus on households with kaumātua and whānau with tamariki and has received $246,746 in funding to create a virtual power network and the panels. It's an avenue that allows whānau to receive discounted power from the energy produced from the marae.
Ngāti Wai raukura Huhana Lyndon says whānau are feeling the pinch.
"Paying for power is a major burden on those looking after marae."
Benefits for whānau
"By marae combining energy, whānau from Ngāti Wai can then access those savings. There are some benefits for whānau."
Lyndon says Ngāti Wai has teamed up with power company Nau Mai Rā as well as Whangarei solar power company Huband's Energy to install the panels.
"We are very excited to join two companies that have roots here in the North to help with Te Rangi Paki o Ngāti Wai."
One hundred and fifty Māori households will benefit from clean, affordable and locally generated power through government support for 16 small-scale solar projects, Energy and Resources and Housing Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing) Peeni Henare say.
“Our effective economic management is helping us to recover faster from the pandemic than from the global financial crisis – but that doesn’t mean whānau aren’t doing it tough. That’s why we’re doing all we can to find practical ways of creating warmer, more energy-efficient homes,” Woods says.