| 25 Taranaki - Hiringa Energy REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT At the forefront of Hydrogen energy T Richard Loader Hiringa Energy is using hydrogen to decarbonise industry, and heavy transport in particular. A shared vision of a green zero emissions world where hydrogen energy plays the starring role has been fundamental to the success of start-up business Hiringa Energy — and the vision is infectious. Based in New Plymouth, Hiringa Energy came to being in 2016 driven by the four founding partners’ desire to transition the existing energy industry to a low emission alternative. Before forming Hiringa Energy, Cathy and Andrew Clennett, Dan Kahn and Matt Carnachan investigated a number of different types of technologies and saw hydrogen at the forefront of that transition. “Fundamentally we wanted to do something that was positive, that was going to address climate change and make a real tangible impact,” says Executive Director Cathy Clennett. “We looked to the future and what our legacy would be. We wanted that to be a positive one for our children and not negative.” Cathy says the key to growing the business has been around attracting talented people with values and goals that align with the founding vision. “Everyone puts their heart and soul into what they do here. We’re a start-up – trying to do a lot — it’s quite demanding but also interesting and very meaningful.” Already working in New Plymouth, New Zealand’s energy capital, the founders’ decision to base the company there was strategic to capitalise on the skill sets and expertise already resident in the region. “A big proportion of our team comes from an engineering background — mechanical, electrical, process, risk and health and safety. “Matt, our energy trader is a key part of our founding group because we always saw that for hydrogen to be viable we needed to understand energy markets and trading across electricity, gas and carbon. “This is a way for New Zealand to decarbonise and so it’s important to understand all of those markets.” A vertically integrated low emission energy company, Hiringa Energy is using hydrogen to decarbonise industry, and heavy transport in particular. The most abundant molecule in the universe, hydrogen primarily comes from either fossil fuels or water. Essentially, Hiringa Energy is using water, splitting that molecule into hydrogen and oxygen, using renewable energy and creating an alternative fuel source. “By doing that we can replace the use of the hydrogen molecule in industry, using a renewable zero emission alternative. “Our petrochem industry is currently reliant upon natural gas or other fossil fuels like coal for input to obtain hydrogen. The other thing we’re doing is replacing liquid fuels in vehicles with the hydrogen molecule. That product can be used as an alternative to diesel or petrol in an E-vehicle that also has a fuel cell.” Over the last couple of months Hiringa Energy has been supporting Christchurch innovative coach and bus builder Global Bus Ventures, which is now testing New Zealand’s first hydrogen cell bus, using Hiringa Energy’s expertise to fuel the bus. Hiringa Energy also has a major project in progress establishing one of the world’s first nationwide refuelling networks, with the first stations expected to come on line at the end of 2021. “We will own and manage the infrastructure but have formed strategic alliances and partnerships across New Zealand, to introduce a commercially viable green hydrogen refuelling network nationwide. We develop the technology and systems that sit behind the network, drawing heavily on the teams experience in oil and gas and also specifically hydrogen. “For example, our risk engineer has worked with Hydrogen in the UK, and our Chief Technology Officer Dan Kahn has designed and commissioned refuelling equipment to international standards in North America before moving here.” TIL are proud to partner with Hiringa Energy as their transport provider. TIL LOGISTICS
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