Te Ahi o Maui could live on . . .

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

The miserable, wet night didn’t put a dampener on the Eastland Community Trust annual meeting last night, with about 100 people in attendance and at least a dozen expressing gratitude for the financial support ECT had given their community organisation or event, as a key enabler for them.

Former trustee Joe Martin took the opportunity to give his perspective on frequent criticisms of the trust and its direction, saying there were always things one could be critical of but the trust had the big things right. It was our own “sovereign wealth fund”.

He also stated his support for the $149 million invested by ECT-owned Eastland Group in the 25MW geothermal plant Te Ahi o Maui, in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Initially sceptical of the proposal, after discussions with the then Eastland Group board and expert advice that they should “go for it”, he was convinced it was a good investment.

Eastland Group chairman Matanuku Mahuika fielded several questions on Te Ahi o Maui too, in the absence of key executives.

Most interesting was his comment that while the consent and lease for the plant meant it had a life now of 35 years, that could change if in future the landowner was interested in renegotiating their arrangement.

That followed a question about what focus there would be on maintaining the plant when the company planned to deconstruct it and restore the land to its original state in the mid-2050s.

Asked about the lack of a stated plan for repaying the debt taken on to construct the plant, Mr Mahuika said that would be paid down by selling electricity from it.

He also referenced the unrealised losses of $7.7m last year from the revaluation of interest and electricity hedges, explaining that electricity hedging provided more income certainty and was set around a level that met their investment criteria. The board was now reviewing its hedging policy.

Asked about the prospect of the geothermal investment lowering electricity prices here, Mr Mahuika said this was not why it was made; the major reason was to diversify company assets out of this region, giving the example of the impact on Eastland Group of an earthquake and tsunami affecting Gisborne.