Rob Scott
Southland District Mayor Rob Scott said he was keen to see a workable solution for the island's power woes established as soon as possible.
"I'm very conscious that it's been a long time before we've had any action on the ground and we've done enough reports and done enough talking, and it's time we actually got to some solid action on the ground to relieve some of the pressure on the islanders."
A presentation would take place at a public meeting on the Island next Thursday outlining the project.
"It's more so an update of kind of where we're at with the project, it's leading towards a solution," Mr Scott said
The Otago Daily Times understands information would be provided about a proposed solar farm that would be established by the current power station.
Mr Scott said he preferred not to go into detail until information had been released to the residents.
"We pretty much started with a blank sheet of paper and we've got the team of experts working through and advising us.
The potential solar farm option was, "looking pretty good at this stage" but the finer details had yet to be sorted.
The final decision would be made by the council, but the community would be informed beforehand.
"The ultimate objective is to look at getting sustainable electricity out there on the island and getting some certainty around their pricing because that diesel at the moment isn't the most conducive in terms of either one of those."
Southland District councillor and Rakiura Community Board member Jon Spraggon said the proposed solar farm would be coupled with battery storage capability and a possible power station upgrade. Battery storage would allow excess generation to be captured rather than wasted, he said.
Solar power was one of the options the community had considered in the past.
The island's power supply came via diesel generators installed in 1988, aged transformers and overhead cabling, and cost residents up to three times more for power than the mainland.
The generators annually used 360,000 litres of diesel which produced nearly 1million kilograms of carbon dioxide each year.
In 2019, central government provided more than $3.16million from the provincial growth fund to establish a wind turbine generation plant. But the funds were not uplifted as a building site had not been negotiated before the funding grant ran out.
As the price of diesel rose in the past few years Stewart Island residents faced power price hikes with a 25% increase in 2023.
In 2023, Minister of Energy Megan Woods provided $300,000 for the island to have a feasibility study to investigate alternative power options that would allow the island to shift from diesel-powered electricity generation.
- By Toni McDonald
