Turning innovative energy ideas into reality

Ara Ake. Two small words that combined mean new pathways, a journey forward - most simply, onwards and upwards. And that sentiment is at the heart of what we do as Aotearoa New Zealand's Future Energy Centre.

At Ara Ake, we work with you, the energy innovator, to help you commercialise and enter the market. From start-ups to large organisations, we work with businesses to facilitate and support demonstration projects of new and emerging technologies across Aotearoa New Zealand.

How we can help you

Funding and investment support

Explore funds available to energy innovators and see organisations involved in energy innovation and business development.

Energy research and insights

Find insights and information to help you successfully demonstrate and commercialise your energy innovation.

Project support and development

We support your late-stage energy technology through:
- project management
- field demonstration
- capability development
- regulatory guidance

Connecting and collaborating

We can connect you with knowledge, expertise, and resources to help you demonstrate and commercialise your energy solutions.

We enable domestic and international relationships between industry, investors, researchers, government and energy innovators.

New Zealand is on a journey of energy innovation; a journey to decarbonise our nation so we can begin to realise the environmental, social and economic benefits of doing so.

But great journeys don't come without challenges. Ara Ake tackles those challenges head on and helps find commercial solutions to them.

We're working to harness the potential of New Zealand's energy innovation sector and connect it to the rest of the world.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Ara Ake projects

We support innovators to commercialise their energy solutions by offering a range of tailored services and providing a pathway to success.

Community Energy How to Guide

A Community Energy Project is a challenging but exciting opportunity for communities to have ownership and control over something incredibly important in their life – energy.  We wanted to invite knowledgeable people to have an opportunity to share their knowledge for the benefit of others. So, we interviewed over 60 people and organisations in the process of writing a Community Energy How to Guide. Their views are embodied in this guide. This guide is written by passionate advocates of community energy, to inspire you and help you in your journey.

Introduction v2

Multiple Trading Relationships

The multiple trading relationships project's aim is to evaluate the benefits of providing customers with the option to contract with more than one supplier for electricity services.

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News

Ara Ake Board appointments announced

At the 2023 Annual Meeting in October, the Ara Ake Shareholders re-elected Elena Trout, and elected two new Directors, Paul Goodeve and Ken Sutherland.

Ara Ake chosen to administer new $20 million Distributed Flexibility Innovation Fund

Ara Ake, Aotearoa New Zealand's Future Energy Centre, will help run and administer the government’s new Distributed Flexibility Innovation Fund to support the electricity system to manage demand.

solarZero takes home the Innovation in Energy Award at the Energy Excellence Awards

The 2023 New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards, held at Te Pae in Christchurch, celebrated outstanding achievements in the energy sector, recognising achievements across the energy sector. With nearly 700 attendees, these annual awards demonstrated the industry’s commitment to celebrating innovation and progress within the sector.

New platform empowers kiwis to alleviate energy hardship

Empower Energy has launched its platform that enables the donation of power bill credits to be distributed to families experiencing energy hardship.