5 minute read
Elemental Group
As the world continues its transition from hydrocarbons to renewable energy, Taranaki-based company Elemental Group is dedicated to delivering solutions, providing services and developing projects.
“Our mission statement is to provide better energy solutions,” says director Nick Jackson.
The company was founded in 2012, by Nick, directors Kate Bromfield, Brett Rogers and Andrew Revfeim, who had all been working in the oil and gas industry.
Nick and Brett are based in New Plymouth, Kate, who is chair of the Elemental board is in Auckland and Andrew is on sabbatical. The other director is Trevor Nash, who is also based in T maki Makaurau.
“A lot of the clients we worked with in oil and gas, we are now working with in renewables.”
While dedicated to changing the New Zealand renewable energy environment, especially through offshore wind – we’ll get to that – the company has been involved in many aid projects in the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean and SouthEast Asia.
Brett says Elemental works to help island nations decarbonise, mostly changing diesel power systems to solar, along with some diesel-solar hybrids. “Now we are taking that
knowledge and bringing it back to New Zealand.”
In Aotearoa, the company is an energy consultant for solar projects in Northland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay and Otago, and wind projects in Otago, Southland and Wairarapa.
Nick says Elemental, with partner Helix, is now working on the decommissioning of the Tui subsea wells.
“We help projects come to fruition. We are a consultancy but we are looking at becoming a developer. We have clients, but there are some projects that we are instigating ourselves to get into development.”
Kate says in 2018, when the New Zealand Government announced the ban on oil and gas exploration, the Elemental directors made the strategic decision to gain most, if not all revenue, through renewable energy projects.”
Over the past five years that has been the company’s strategic intent, which has been highly successful and Kate’s proud of the team for their efforts.
“We have just done our strategic planning review . . . we want to continue
promoting renewable energy but we also want to now move into being a developer,” she says.
“Now, we don’t just want to tell people how to deliver better energy, we want to deliver better energy options for people.”
Nick says that for society to wean off hydrocarbons there must be options and one of the big ones is offshore wind. The two places being scoped for projects are off the coast of Waikato and South Taranaki.
There is already a wind farm onshore in South Taranaki. “When there’s no wind on shore, there will nearly always be wind offshore.”
Elemental is working with Spanish company BlueFloat Energy to develop their offshore wind projects, which is likely to be about eight years away from fruition because there is a great deal of research, lobbying, advocacy and consultation to do be done.
“We want to assist with the transition from oil and gas to renewable energy,” Nick says.
“The Government’s aim is that New Zealand will be net zero from an emissions standpoint across the energy system by 2050.”
On your average day, over 90% of New Zealand’s electricity is produced by renewable energy sources. “We need to add 500mw of renewable energy generation to the system every year for the next 30 years – that’s to maintain the status quo and does not account for any growth.”
Nick says New Zealand will need gas in its energy system all the way through the transition years. “Gas provides the backup that enables us to continue building renewables.”
Another aim is to eliminate energy poverty. That was the goal behind the project Kate is most proud of – working with the
World Bank on the electrification of rural Myanmar.
“I thought that was the most challenging and most exciting project that I have personally been involved in,” she says. “The opportunity to work with the people of Myanmar and to be part of their precoup intent to turn the lights on for those communities that have always been dark – they’ve never had electricity – that’s part of that purposeful work we do at Elemental.”
Sitting in the renewable energy hub where Elemental is flanked by Ara Ake and Hiringa, Brett talks about the importance of consultation. “When we do work locally with M ori and internationally with indigenous people our work is always premised on
partnering to get more out of these projects.”
Another planet-saving project began at Elemental.
Kate is CEO of HazEL, a start-up that aims to reduce chemical harm. In 2020 it became incorporated to be entirely its own company.
“I’ve been motivated by the United Nations recently declaring chemical pollution the ‘third great planetary emergency’,” she says on the HazEL website.
www.elementalgroup.com
