Rod Drury backs ‘NZ first’ public e-boat charging company Electric Wave

The Electric Wave chargers at the Queenstown Marina on Lake Wakatipu.

Start-up Electric Wave is launching what it bills as the country’s first publicly accessible electric marine-side chargers - at Queenstown Marina on Lake Wakatipu.

The $1 million project was backed by a $267,000 grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s Low Emission Transport Fund, with most of the balance provided by entrepreneur Rod Drury - who has a property in nearby Arrowtown.

Backer Rod Drury says the chargers will help make Lake Wakatipu an R&D hub for electrification of the marine industry.

“I’m excited about the opportunities this venture gives rise to, by removing some of the barriers to electrification for other players in the marine industry,” Drury said.

“The Queenstown Marina can act as an R&D hub for the many e-marine projects in development here in New Zealand, and encourage and enable developers to test their prototypes in the best setting in the world, inspiring other coastal and lakeside communities to embrace clean energy solutions and protect our precious waterways.”

After stepping back from Xero, Drury has emerged as a campaigner for electrification. He is backing several projects around Queenstown and, more broadly, is one of the backers of Lodestone Energy, which is building a series of solar farms around the country.

Electric Wave director Anna Groot said there were no electric vessels currently in development on the lake. Her firm was taking an “If we build it, they will come” approach.

Drury could be one of the first to join the party. The billionaire has plans for an electric wake-surfing boat as part of his putative push to electrify local tourism. He sees Queenstown as a “testbed for rapid decarbonisation”.

EECA partnerships and delivery manager Richard Brigg says the new chargers’ presence will stimulate conversations and get local marine businesses thinking about electrifying their businesses.

“Installing this infrastructure enables the region’s marine businesses to make the transition to more energy efficient vessels that save on fuel and maintenance costs, as well as eliminate the chance of fuel spills into the marina.”

The two, 150kW Tritium chargers, managed by Meridian, will provide a combined charge capacity of 300kW for electric vessels and will open to the public on March 31. Groot says pricing is still being finalised.

There are also plans to expand the electric charging capacity land side, close to the boat chargers, in the near future.

“We’re completely on board with any initiative that gets more people into electric vehicles - whether they’re on the road or on the water.

“We’ll be keeping a close eye on how the Wakatipu charger goes to see what we can learn from it,” Meridian retail strategy head Danny Wilson said.

Lines company Aurora has also supported the venture with the installation of a large-capacity transformer.

A burst of e-boat activity around the country over the past couple of years has seen Wellington launch its first electric commuter ferry, four (now under-construction) ferries commissioned by Auckland Transport (albeit with pier charger delays), Auckland start-up Vessev launch a hydroforming electric boat (and its Scandinavian rival Candela setting up shop in NZ through Green Pacific Shipping) and ZeroJet develop an electric engine to replace petrol-powered outboard motors, among other projects.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.