Defeated project – Westport, Hokitika & Christchurch
Status of project
Communities of Westport and Hokitika reject proposal. Project moves to East Coast and becomes SIRRL “Project Kea”
Background to this project
The project was the original pre-cursor to the SIRRL Project Kea in Waimate, involving Renew Energy who became the directors of SIRRL. Renew Energy Limited (REL) wanted to build a plant in Hokitika by 2022
It would burn 1000 tonnes of rubbish everyday to create 28 mega watts of power, 410,000mgw of thermal energy.
Plant would burn 300,000 tonnes of waste a year
It would burn Christchurch’s construction and demolition waste, but given the volumes they require it suggests they are really targeting municipal waste from around the South Island
West Coast produces only 4000 tonnes of waste every year, but would be left with 10,000 tonnes of toxic fly ash from the proposed plant, which would need to be landfilled.
Claims that the fly ash could be turned into a glass-like construction material using a plasma process have been rejected, because it, “was not being used anywhere in the world and was not commercially viable because it used too much energy and cost too much.”
Swiss waste-to-energy company Hitachi Zosen Inova had been in talks with Renew Energy until it decided to go with a Chinese partner China Tianying Inc. Renew has since said it would not be using Chinese technology but has not announced who its new European partner will be.
Campaign updates
Chronological from most recent
June 2020
Renew Energy Limited (REL) withdraws application to store waste bales at a site in Belfast Road, Christchurch. Removal of the bales must take place by 30 September 2020.The court set the following conditions:
REL is to advise Environment Canterbury before it starts to move the bales.
The bales will be sorted and removed to either Kate Valley Landfill or a Class B landfill.
REL is to file a report to the court on how many bales are removed on the last working day of the month.
Environment Canterbury will continue to monitor the Spencerville site and the method of removal to ensure no adverse effects are generated or remain.The application for consent to store up to 40,000 bales at a Belfast site is on hold and we are awaiting advice from REL whether they wish to proceed with the application or withdraw it. Regardless, the bales from Spencerville will not be going there. We hope this provides some comfort to affected communities on two fronts – one, that the bales will soon be removed from Spencerville, and two, they will not be moved to Belfast.
March 2020
Renew Energy seeks to store 4000 bales of waste at a site in Belfast Road, Christchurch in anticipation of building a waste incinerator. Local residents have turned out en mass to resist.
February 2020
Stuff is reporting that “Westland mayor Bruce Smith said he believed the company was no longer considering Hokitika as a potential site for the waste-to-energy plant, and was looking elsewhere.”
20 October 2023
Environment Canterbury sent a letter to the company asking for specific details on a number of key issues. Read the full letter here.