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Regional | Te Whānau-ā-Apanui

East Coast hapū looks to generate own power

The small community of Ōmaio on the East Cape is working on self-sustainable power generation.

They are using renewable energy sources such as the sun, sea and rivers in their area, to generate their own electricity.

In May, the Ōmaio community hosted some university students who then went away and investigated renewable energy options.

These included windmills along the ridges of the mountain range in Ōmaio, and water-generated energy.

However it was the cost of power and a drive to do something about it, that saw members of the community getting involved.

As a collective working under the three marae in Ōmaio, the families hope to build a company in Ōmaio using the options presented to them on the research around renewable energy.

With their research the collective hopes to present and entice investors but they're also committed to maintaining the control of the project.