Summer has arrived in New Zealand, so as 2019 draws to an end, Hiringa Energy would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners, shareholders, and fellow climate change enthusiasts for supporting us on our journey.
This year we have gathered a lot of momentum in the hydrogen space:
In March Hiringa joined NZ Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, Energy Minister, Dr Megan Woods, New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdem and CEO of Venture Taranaki, Justine Gilleland, to launch H2 Taranaki, a bold hydrogen roadmap for the energy province and beyond, authored by Hiringa with support from Venture Taranaki, NPDC and MBIE.
In June Hiringa Energy and Ballance Agri-nutrients announced the signing of a Joint Development Agreement to develop 16 MW of renewable energy for production of green hydrogen and ammonia at the Kapuni industrial complex in Taranaki.
New Zealand picked up the pace in September with “A vision for hydrogen in New Zealand” Green Paper – this paper has received excellent engagement and feedback to help inform a national roadmap.
It was in this context that Hiringa moved into detailed design of our refuelling network with the selection of Palmerston North, Taranaki, Hamilton and Tauranga as the first priority regional refuelling stations in our Phase 1 network. These sites will enable coverage of over 95% of the North Island’s heavy road freight routes.
The New Zealand Hydrogen Association, under the leadership of CEO Dr Linda Wright, has grown from strength to strength, building a membership base of over 35 members and progressing a number of key workstreams. Hiringa continues to support the Association through our contributions to the various workstreams and Board Membership.
Over the ditch, Australia set the regional bar with the November launch of Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Alan Finkel, the potential for Australia and NZ to work together in this new industry is exciting – now is the time to secure New Zealand’s position as the “test bed” for hydrogen in the region.
Towards the end of the year Hiringa has signed a number of exciting agreements around refuelling station partnerships and FCEV heavy truck offerings. Stay tuned for announcements in the New Year!
The Hiringa team has growth from strength to strength, we are now comprised of over 12 passionate professionals work together to make a difference for New Zealand and the planet.
However, we couldn’t have done all this alone, big shout-outs to our awesome partners, friends, and fellow supporters of hydrogen including TIL, Ballance, Waitomo, Mitsui, BTW, Beca, Dialog Fitzroy, VTT, Priority One, NPDC, Energyworks, Elemental, WRC, Mitsubitshi, Tauropaki Trust, Ports of Auckland, NIF, Horizon Fuel Cells, E-Trucks, Z Energy, Envirowaste, PKW, Evonik, FirstGas and many more!
2020 is shaping up to be a huge year for Hiringa and hydrogen in general across the globe:
We are pushing hard to final investment decisions on our Phase 1 network stations in Q1 and looking to accelerate some of the additional 20 Phase 2 stations into 2020/21 (such as Christchurch, South Auckland and Wellington).
For our exciting $50m wind to hydrogen Hiringa/Ballance JV project, we continue to work with Iwi and landowners through the consenting process while we gather additional wind data and progress detailed design, targeting final investment decision in Q3.
Progress on New Zealand suitable FCEV heavy vehicles is gaining a great deal of momentum, our technical team has been working this space hard together with our fleet and technology partners.
Things are on track for initial pilot vehicles to be available Q4 2020 with fleet roll-outs in 2021. We continue to progress a number of exciting agreements throughout the hydrogen supply chain we are really looking forward to growing our partnerships and accelerating the hydrogen opportunity in New Zealand!
Wishing you and your families a happy and safe holiday and all the best for 2020,
Andrew, Cathy, and the Team at Hiringa
