Ara Ake

26/05/2026

Geoheat has been building momentum across Aotearoa New Zealand, and we're proud to be part of its next chapter!

Earth Sciences New Zealand and Ara Ake have released the 2026–2027 Action Plan, the latest step in delivering on New Zealand's first-ever geothermal strategy, From the Ground Up.

✨ The Action Plan brings together a consortium of industry, government, and regional stakeholders who have been driving this work forward, and sets clear targets for the next two years: new projects in planning or operation, nationwide engagement events, site visits, and published research.

Within the Action Plan are case studies of geoheat projects, including our Taranaki Geoheat Discovery Challenge. More info linked in comments along with the Action Plan media release 👇

19/05/2026

Techweek NZ 26 has kicked off and we're looking forward to this Friday's event: Authentic Leadership, Building Trust Currency.

The panellists are:
✨OpenStar Technologies, Kiri Lenagh-Glue
✨Ara Ake, Sophie Braggins
✨Tech New Zealand, Auriga Martin
✨Supa Energy, Kat Lintott

📍Supa Energy premises in Auckland, 3pm-4.30pm, 22 May.

The panel will explore what effective leadership looks like across energy, clean tech, and resilient business-building, and how diverse networks, mentoring, and practical collaboration can help New Zealand move faster.

Register via the link in comments 👇

12/05/2026

♨️ Could petroleum wells across Taranaki deliver geothermal heat, rather than being plugged and left behind?

Ara Ake is exploring exactly that. Our new Geoheat Discovery Challenge looks at whether suspended and shut-in wells could be repurposed as low-emission heat sources for industry, buildings and communities before they're permanently abandoned.

👉🏽"Geoheat" refers to lower-temperature geothermal resources, generally up to around 120°C. You might know the high-temp systems of the Taupō Volcanic Zone, used for electricity generation and typically above 150°C. Taranaki's resource sits below that electricity threshold, but it's still seriously useful heat.

So why Taranaki? 6 decades of petroleum development have left something valuable: hundreds of existing wells and a rich bank of subsurface data. That's a head start most regions don't have.

👇🏽 Find out more in the comments!

📸 Kirkby et al (2025) from Earth Sciences New Zealand. The image displays surface heat flow measured in milliwatts per square meter, shown as a colour gradient from 10-250 milliwatts per square metre.

11/05/2026

Excited to be part of this! 🤩

Next Friday, we’re hosting a Techweek NZ event at SUPA HQ alongside the Tech New Zealand Sustainability Board, bringing together people working across energy, clean tech, infrastructure, technology and business to talk about what actually moves the needle.

There’ll be some great people in the room from organisations helping shape the future of energy in Aotearoa, including OpenStar Technologies, Ara Ake, Tech New Zealand and SUPA.

We’ll be talking about where the energy transition is heading, why battery storage and decentralised infrastructure matter more than ever, what strong leadership looks like during periods of change, and why better outcomes usually come from getting more perspectives around the table.

Also, importantly, there will be drinks and nibbles. Which historically has helped New Zealand solve at least several problems.

Friday 22 May
3pm - 4:30pm
SUPA HQ, Auckland

Come along!

Register: https://events.humanitix.com/authentic-leadership-building-trust-currency

11/05/2026

Energy innovation and resilience sit at the heart of what we do, so we’re excited to partner with the New Zealand Hydrogen Council on their⚡Q2 Hydrogen Speaker Series: Energy Security & Resilience⚡

On the 12 June in New Plymouth, the event brings together government and industry leaders to explore the opportunities, challenges and practical pathways ahead for a secure and resilient energy system in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The discussion will explore:
⚡️What role domestic gas from Taranaki can realistically play
⚡️The evolving role of hydrogen now and into the future
⚡️The practical realities of LNG imports, and
⚡️How we can reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels while strengthening critical energy infrastructure.

Register to attend: https://www.nzhydrogen.org/q2-quarterly-speaker-series-rego

05/05/2026

What will it actually take to reshape New Zealand's energy system? Electrify Queenstown is creating the space to find out, and we're glad to be part of it with a panel of people working on the answers ⚡

Ara Ake presents Reimagining Energy for a Low-Emissions Aotearoa:
📅 1-1:35pm, 18 May 2026
📍 Queenstown Events Centre

The panelists will be discussing how renewables and new tech will shape New Zealand’s clean energy future, and include:

👉 Briony Bennett, Ara Ake
👉 Christina Hood, New Zealand Climate Foundation
👉 Stephen Batstone, Queenstown Electrification Accelerator
👉 Jo Hendy, Climate Change Commission
Facilitated by Paddy Gower

Find out more about Electrify Queenstown : https://www.electrifyqueenstown.co.nz/

📸 from last year's event ✨

28/04/2026

An exciting update from Ara Ake! Sophie Braggins, who has been our acting Chief Executive for the past 4 months, is stepping into the role permanently.

“At a time where energy security and economic security are a priority, supporting technologies and early-stage innovation that will shape how New Zealand generates, distributes and uses energy for generations to come, is a focus that we’re proud of,” says Sophie.

📸 Sophie pictured below, second from right with some of the Ara Ake team - fully harnessed and ready to tackle whatever the energy transition throws at them⚡

22/04/2026

🙌 The 15 startups joining the Creative HQ Aurora Climate Lab 2026 have been announced!

These are NZ founders building real solutions to climate change and a more resilient economy. Across the cohort you'll find solutions to the energy crisis, new sustainable materials, petrochemical alternatives, smarter measurement tools and plenty more to get excited about.

Check out the cohort below and head along to the launch in Wellington next week - link below 👇

21/04/2026

🔊 Today’s launch of the New Zealand Cleantech Impact Report 2026 highlights New Zealand’s growing pipeline of cleantech companies have the potential to deliver impact on a global scale.

Remarkably just nine of these companies could reduce CO₂ emissions by 19.2 million tonnes each year by 2030, roughly equivalent to the carbon absorbed by New Zealand’s forests.

What stands out is where many of these companies are coming from - they are emerging directly from research labs around the country. NZ’s scientists and engineers are stepping out of the lab and into start-up company founder roles, turning world class research developed here into practical climate solutions.

Take a read below 👇

It was fantastic working on this report with the inspiring innovators and The MacDiarmid Institute, along with all the co-authors 🙌

Auckland Council | Ōtautahi Christchurch | Earth Sciences New Zealand

20/04/2026

Connecting the right people at the right moment is one of the most important things we do at Ara Ake.

🤝 Recently, we introduced Simon Watts MP for North Shore to Tama Toki, founder of Aotea Energy. It was exactly the kind of conversation New Zealand's energy transition needs more of.

💫 Tama grew up on Aotea/Great Barrier Island where there's no centralised power grid. Residents have always had to be self-sufficient with energy and Aotea Energy has built a business around that idea. They build smart home batteries that give households direct access to the wholesale electricity market, shifting energy use away from peak prices and cutting power bills.

🏘️ But the longer vision is bigger. Tama's mission is energy sovereignty: giving households and communities direct control over how power is generated, stored, and traded. Aotea Energy is building toward a future where homes become their own power plants, communities can be genuinely self-sufficient, and New Zealand leads the world as the first fully renewable economy.

What makes this credible is that Aotea builds everything themselves: batteries, software, electricity retail... the full tech stack. All designed and assembled in New Zealand, so every component works together seamlessly.

✨ There was real excitement in that room with government and innovation in genuine conversation about what's possible. Moments like this are why Ara Ake exists!

📸 Ara Ake's Michelle Polglase (left) and Sophie Braggins (right) with Minister Watts and Tama (3rd from right), and the wider Aotea Energy team 🤩