New Zealand’s first Energy-from-Waste plant
Welcome to Project Kea
The Energy-from-Waste project proposed by South Island Resource Recovery Limited is named after the Kea, the intelligent and inquisitive native mountain parrot of New Zealand.
The Kea bird is considered a guardian of the mountains and is unique to New Zealand; while Project Kea is one of a kind in New Zealand and aims to protect the environment of Aotearoa.
Project Kea’s Energy-from-Waste facility will be the first of its kind in New Zealand. It will safely convert 365,000 tonnes of waste, that would otherwise be dumped into South Island landfills annually, into renewable electricity.
Using world-leading best available technology and the most stringent environmental management practices, the facility will produce a significant amount of renewable energy to be provided as steam and electricity for local industry and communities in the region.
Project Kea is an initiative from the Joint Venture Partnership between Renew Energy Limited (NZ) and China Tianying Incorporated (China).
This partnership, called South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL), brings together international expertise to consent, construct and operate the first Energy-from-Waste plant of its type in New Zealand. CNTY incorporated European subsidiary, EUZY, owns 19% of SIRRL.
UPDATE – 6 September 2023
Following a request from Councils, as well as SIRRL, the Minister for the Environment has announced his decision to ‘call in’ our consent application. This means the Environmental Protection Authority will take over management of the applications, and the Environment Court will be the decision-maker on the overall proposal.
United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26)
The urgent need to curb methane emissions was a major focus of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26). Landfill gas from waste contains high concentrations of methane and, if not first captured, has about 30x higher global warming impact compared to carbon dioxide. Project Kea’s globally-proven Energy-from-Waste technology will run alongside Aotearoa’s essential waste minimisation and recycling efforts and produce renewable energy to benefit the local economy.
“New Zealand is in the middle of a landfill waste crisis. Many of the South Island’s landfills are older, overpacked and failing. The breakdown of these landfills is happening now – we cannot leave this problem for the next generation to deal with.”
— Paul Taylor, South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) Board Director