The first NZ Battery Project E-news for the year.
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Welcome to the first NZ Battery Project E-news for the year. This year is proving just as busy as the last, and we’re making good progress on all 4 of the Project’s workstreams.
We’re currently in Phase 1 of the NZ Battery Project where we’re investigating a range of possible solutions to the dry year problem – pumped hydro at Lake Onslow, other hydro-based schemes, and alternative approaches such as bioenergy and hydrogen – as well as how such a solution might interact with the electricity market.
Lake Onslow feasibility study update
Over the past few months, some of the team has been working closely with Te Rōpū Matatau, the consortium of firms undertaking the Lake Onslow feasibility study. This work has so far, largely focused on desktop analyses, environmental planning and preparing resource consent applications to undertake field work.
More recently, their focus has shifted to include applying for resource consents and other authorisations to undertake detailed geotechnical, geological and hydrogeological investigations around Lake Onslow and the Teviot Valley area. Further resource consents will be lodged over the coming months.
Through these proposed investigations, we aim to better understand:
- regional geology such as faults, shear zones and landslides
- whether rock strength and other rock properties varies between locations
- groundwater and surface water interactions
- suitability for pumped hydro infrastructure at different locations
This information would help build a broad picture of how the regional geological structure could best support a pumped hydro scheme, should the pumped hydro scheme go ahead.
Resource consents
Resource consents are being lodged with the Central Otago District Council and Otago Regional Council, and Wildlife Permits are being lodged with the Department of Conservation. Some of these authorisations have been approved and come with pre-work conditions, which we are currently working through.
Key activities
The proposed activities are:
- drilling holes, about 15cm wide and at various depths, from mobile drilling rigs
- excavating or digging test pits to sample the material at near-surface level
- monitoring groundwater and hydraulic testing
- non-intrusive surface geophysical surveys
- constructing a temporary storage area for contractors’ equipment and facilities
Much of the proposed work is to take place on public land where ecological, cultural and archaeological values are low, such as council road reserve. We are also proposing to undertake some investigative work on private land, and we’ll be engaging directly with those landowners before any consents are lodged.
Investigative work to begin
We expect work at the first investigation site to get underway later this month. And if resource consents are granted, other investigations will continue until later in the year. We aim to keep people informed of our progress through this e-newsletter and the new Information for the community webpage:
Environmental, cultural and archaeological impacts
Prior to applying for a resource consent, we contract independent experts to assess the potential ecological, cultural values and archaeological effects of each possible site. Sites are selected where the impact on these values and on the local community is considered low or could be avoided or mitigated.
Local community
We also consider in our applications how to minimise the disruption to the local community. For example, we are selecting sites on public land that are away from main roads to reduce the impact of increased traffic to road users.
We’re also mindful that this exploratory work creates uncertainty and raises questions. We will update the new webpage on the MBIE website as our work progresses and look to share more information through local media channels.
For more information on the proposed geotechnical investigations, visit our webpages:
