Ara Ake New Zealand Decarbonisation Challenge

Waipā Networks had the privilege of attending The Ara Ake New Zealand Decarbonisation Challenge event in New Plymouth on Thursday 17 November 2022.

Ara Ake is an organisation that launched in 2020. Their purpose is to help inventors that want to develop and commercialise energy for New Zealand. They offer various services, aid their projects, and grant a wide range of resources and guidance to help people within the industry.

Ara Ake’s decarbonisation challenge was set out in September with a goal for New Zealand to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and a fully carbon-neutral economy by 2050. Waipā Networks is one of 29 Electricity Distribution Businesses (EDBs) across New Zealand that are directly impacted by this and are key enablers of this transition. It was a challenge that saw energy innovators promote pilot-ready technologies that can:

• Forecast, visualise, and integrate the network impact of decarbonisation demand growth, Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), and flexibility services into asset management, planning, and operations.
• Expedite the (DER) connection process, particularly the network impact assessment.
• Optimise visibility, management, and forecasting of peak demand and network constraints.

Additionally, it is key that the energy transition doesn’t leave anyone behind, especially those already experiencing energy hardship and would benefit the most from low emissions solutions. They want solutions that can provide accessible and affordable options to allow low- and moderate-income households to actively participate in the benefits of the energy transition.

Over 100 guests from the energy sector attended the event, including Waipā Networks Chief Executive Sean Horgan. Finalists presented their energy solutions to a panel of judges from participating EDBs. In addition to Waipā Networks, the panel included Aurora Energy, Counties Energy, Orion NZ, Powerco, The Lines Company, Unison Networks, and Wellington Electricity.

The event showcased six extraordinary finalists: ANSA – New Zealand, Future Grid – Australia, Gridsight Pty Ltd – Australia, Plexigrid – Spain, Redback, Technologies – Australia and Shifted Energy – USA.

Winners received a combined amount of USD$250,000 for testing their technology with New Zealand’s participating EDBs and for scaling and commercialising their ideas.

“We are grateful to be selected as a winner of the Ara Ake Decarbonisation Challenge and are excited to soon commence pilots with Orion and Waipā Networks to safely and reliably manage electrification and DER adoption across their low voltage networks,” said Gridsight Co-Founder and CEO Dr Brendan Banfield.

Pilots are scheduled to begin in 2023.