Meridian Energy Chief Executive Neal Barclay says a project of this scale and significance requires the smartest and most skilled technical partners in the country.
“By drawing on the combined experience and knowledge of Arup, Beca and Wood, we can move forward confidently and ensure that Southern Green Hydrogen delivers strong economic and sustainability benefits for New Zealanders,” Neal said.
“This team brings strong local knowledge and valuable global experience from green hydrogen projects overseas. We’re excited about the contribution they’ll make to Southern Green Hydrogen.
As Technical Advisors, the team will be supporting Meridian and Contact in identifying opportunities and risks associated with the project and providing technical solutions that meet the project objectives. Key to this is a strong and collaborative relationship where the focus is on the right result for Meridian and Contact.
The importance of this being a New Zealand-led project is ideally suited to the consultant team. Arup, Beca and Wood all have interests in New Zealand and a strong link with local communities, as well as bringing global experience not available in New Zealand. Identifying and developing a solution that not only meets the environmental goals of stakeholders but minimises the impact on the environment and local communities are key objectives of the team.
Arup is already heavily involved in Green Hydrogen projects in Australia, New Zealand and globally.
“Our teams bring global experience and local insights to this collaboration: we are committed to sustainable development and this project, which is both ambitious and exciting, represents a step-change in leading future decarbonised fuels in the region,” said Patrick.
Greg Lowe, Beca’s CEO is a strong advocate for the development of a green hydrogen economy. “Beca is already supporting several private and public sector initiatives and working with local authorities that are piloting the use of integrated green hydrogen solutions. We see Southern Green Hydrogen as a great opportunity to be involved in a long-term New Zealand based significant project and it aligns strongly with our commitment to sustainability goals,” Greg said.
Wood brings substantial global heavy industrial engineering, operational, project delivery and maintenance experience to the team, including hydrogen (grey, blue, green and bio) and ammonia production lifecycle management.
Josh Carmichael, Wood Global VP Hydrogen said: “Technical Advisory support from Wood supports the solid technical and commercial baseline work by Meridian and Contact Energy for Southern Green Hydrogen that provides the foundation and framework to accelerate the New Zealand market transition to hydrogen and low emission energy products.”
As the project develops, the requirements of the Arup, Beca and Wood team will evolve to suit the needs of the project and having access to a large and flexible team that brings experience in large scale development and Green Hydrogen provides Meridian and Contact the resources they need when they need them on a flexible basis.
Trish Sunga
Australasia Press Office,Sydney
