Christchurch Airport launches new renewable energy park

Christchurch Airport Chief Executive Malcolm Johns, said Kōwhai Park is part of the airport’s plan to become climate positive over the coming decade and to maintain its world leading position on sustainability.

Johns added: “Over the past decade, our team has systematically decarbonised our business. We’ve reduced 85 per cent of our direct emissions and we’re on track to be carbon zero well before the city’s goal of 2030 and New Zealand’s goal of 2050. We want to enable the rest of the economy to decarbonise at the fastest possible rate. That is what Kōwhai Park is about.”

Malcolm Johns further said that Kōwhai Park will deliver green energy so other businesses can transition.

“As we decarbonise, demand on our renewable energy supply is expected to increase by 68 per cent. Kōwhai Park will, over time, help meet that additional demand and provide a resilient supply of renewable energy Canterbury and New Zealand can rely on.

“It will also assist aviation to decarbonise and decouple from fossil fuels. In New Zealand we’re likely to see both electric and hydrogen-fuelled planes on our domestic routes over the next few decades. Kōwhai Park can support this transition at Christchurch,” commented Johns.

Sherratt added: “It’s in close proximity to New Zealand’s second largest city, the Canterbury Plains are flat and sunny, and the park has Orion’s lines network (supplying Christchurch) on one side and Transpower’s national grid pylons on the other. It’s the ultimate site.”

Johns further discussed how Kōwhai Park is beyond just solar and is a platform of scale to enable multi sector energy transition in Canterbury and nationally over many decades.