Energy could be our ‘Field of Dreams’

‘‘We need to put up the ‘‘open for business’’ sign in Southland and use the cornerstone input, energy, as the selling point. ‘‘ If we build it, they will come.’’ Peter McDonald.

I was fortunate to attend a conference in Invercargill a few weeks ago around energy security. It’s becoming an essential discussion within a very unsettled geopolitical future; one certainty is that all energy opportunities must be thoroughly considered.

My concern is, just as Southland has been ‘‘mined’’ in terms of our abundant natural resources, which our region’s farmers, with considerable expertise, convert into foreign earnings.

Are we to let our precious electricity be transformed into fuel to be exported?

Regarding red meat, for every $1 we put on a ship, it’s turned into $6 at the point of sale, indicating that while we have done well, we still leave considerable money on the table.

Southland farming has been an extraction story in terms of exports. From the privately owned meat packers, making Southland part of the great British food basket, to the current growing Chinese ownership of our processing sector, they have all played a significant role in the export story of Southland.

I’m suggesting that we have an opportunity to break this cycle of exporting dependence with the realisation of a future world where our energy needs will not be derived from fossil fuels. Southland needs to figure out where we sit in this future.

Undertaking a ‘‘stocktake’’ on our options is a crucial first step. Our choices are many around energy security post-carbon; the 850 megawatts from the Manapouri power station is the centrepiece for Southlands economic future.

The critical question is, do we want to use part of that 850 megawatts to create future opportunities in the region, or do we want to continue to be extracted by exporting that energy for others to turn that one dollar into six?

For example, are we going to export Southland energy in the form of Hydrogen to decarbonise the Auckland transport network?

Base load electricity as an energy source is extremely difficult to move out of Southland. Many, including the government, are promoting ‘‘green hydrogen’’ as a process of converting electricity into fuel so it can be exported. To take a simplistic view, I believe there is little difference between yesteryear’s dominance of the British meat packers exporting frozen carcasses out of Bluff and the current proponents of Hydrogen energy exporting out of Bluff.

My approach would be… understand that renewable energy requirements post-fossil fuels will be sought with an air of desperation. Let’s recognise the advantage that it creates for Southland. Don’t use electricity to produce fuel; use the Manapouri power to attract industry, businesses, and their families to Southland.

Using renewable energy closest to its generation point is the most efficient use of that resource.

We need to put up the ‘‘open for business’’ sign in Southland and use the cornerstone input, energy, as the selling point.

‘‘ If we build it, they will come.’’