If, as the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child” then Meridian Energy’s proposed  Ruakākā Energy Park can certainly count the local business community as willing villagers.

Northport is just one of the local businesses supporting the development. With construction works under way for the first stage of the energy park, a 100-megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS), all 80 of the imported 20-foot container-sized battery storage units are coming ashore at the port.

The port operator is also working with global transport and logistics provider Bolloré Logistics to provide biosecurity checks, secure storage for the battery units and carefully sequenced delivery of the equipment to the nearby project site.

“It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to facilitate this project,” said Northport’s commercial manager David Finchett. “There is tremendous opportunity for growth and development in the wider Marsden Point and Ruakākā area and we’re well positioned to enable this.”

The BESS will cover three hectares, the size of two rugby fields. In addition to the battery storage units it will comprise 20 power conversion system units. These include inverters and transformers that increase the voltage of the electricity from the battery units.

It is expected to be fully commissioned by the end of the year and, ultimately, will store power generated by the proposed second stage of the Energy Park, an adjacent 105 hectare, 120-megawatt solar energy farm.

Once operational and connected to Transpower’s adjacent 220kV Bream Bay substation, it is envisaged that the BESS will provide additional reserve power and resilience to the national grid, accelerate the growth of renewable generation and support the transition to a net-zero economy by 2050.