Te Ahi O Maui - New geothermal development option for Eastland Group

Eastland Group has signed an exclusive deal to be part of a ground-breaking international indigenous peoples project.

It's part of the group's energy development plans, and involves the exclusive development right for 170 hectares in Kawerau on a Maori trust block belonging to the Kawerau A8D Ahuwhenua Trust.

There is an existing commercially viable geothermal well on the land, but Eastland Group chief executive Matt Todd says an assessment of the entire area has shown a significant additional resource underneath the A8D block.

“This is an exciting development for us to be involved in,” says Mr Todd. “While Gisborne based Eastland Group is a large local business, it is not a multinational or huge corporate, and as a result we have similar provincial values with a strong sense of community responsibility, as does the Trust we are working with on this project.”

”We think there is a niche for us at a level below what would be attractive to the large generators and retailers, but which is well above the reach and capability of small to medium businesses. “

The other company involved in the deal is the Hawaiian-owned Innovations Development Group (IDG), and this project has allowed them to successfully create the world's first Native to Native trade deal.

Native to Native Trade has been established to help indigenous peoples who want to develop their lands and resources, but need assistance to see that realised. Such trade encourages ownership in projects, shared profits and socially, environmentally and culturally appropriate practices.

“This is very much a three-way partnership,” says IDG Founder Robbie Cabral. “IDG were brought on as development experts by the Kawerau A8D Ahuwhenua Trust,and Eastland became involved when they sought out financial backing and technical experts in power generation.”

The new operation is not far from Eastland Group's 9 megawatt geothermal power station which was bought in early 2010. The group is keen to expand further into the power generation sector with a particular focus on renewable energy.

A cultural consultation process will be worked through to ensure the right protocols are in place before any development on the trust land is started.

The project has been named Te Ahi O Maui, which loosely translated means “the fire of Maui”, capturing the essence of the history of the ngawha’s (geothermal fluid) journey from Hawaii to Aotearoa, and the belief that the Chief Ngatoroirangi summoned the heat from his homeland Hawaii'iki. The demigod Maui sent it from Hawaii through another demigod Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire.

Mr Todd says he anticipates the development to be done over several stages, with the first likely to take approximately 2 years. The initial stage one project is potentially a 10MW to 15MW plant with a capital cost of $45 million to $60 million.

The power generated will be fed back into the Bay of Plenty community using local electricity lines, where possible.

“The synergies between our two geothermal sites are strong and can only be beneficial for all involved.” says Mr Todd.