By Kirsti Murahidy, Principal Geotechnical Engineer, Tonkin + Taylor
The future energy system must support not only industry and economic growth, but also communities and future generations. Emerging technologies, distributed energy systems, and community-based solutions can improve affordability, resilience, and energy access.
Aotearoa New Zealand is at a pivotal moment in its energy story. But the conversation in boardrooms and policy circles tends to focus on megawatts and market structures. We think the harder question – and the more important one – is: Who actually benefits?
At Tonkin + Taylor, we work across the full spectrum of energy infrastructure – from transmission corridors to community microgrids and virtual power plants, to resource consenting, and climate adaptation. What that breadth teaches you is that technical solutions exist. The bottleneck is almost always human – in how decisions are made, who is at the table and whose resilience gets treated as optional.
Resilience built from the ground up
Distributed energy technologies – local solar, battery storage, and microgrids – are no longer experimental. They are proven, affordable, and deployable now. Hapū, urban neighbourhoods, and rural towns that generate and manage their own energy build genuine independence; when the grid fails, they keep going.
The opportunity now is to build this infrastructure with communities rather than for them. Co-design is more than a consultation tick box – it’s how you get infrastructure that communities will protect, maintain and advocate for. The feasibility study for the Tairāwhiti project is complete, and construction of a pilot covering around 20 homes is about to begin. It was jointly funded by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and the community, with local people trained to install and maintain the system.
Affordability, equity and obligations of Kaitiakitanga
We have a responsibility as a sector to ensure that people don’t have to choose between heating and eating, or have energy wealth bypass the communities it comes from. Kaitiakitanga – stewardship for current and future generations – isn’t just a value; it’s a design brief.
Tonkin + Taylor staff have supported EECA-led initiatives, including solar installation across 22 marae and multiple schools – going beyond installation to help end users optimise performance and realise long-term value. The programme shows how targeted technical support helps communities maximise the benefits of new infrastructure.
Decisions for long-term sustainability
Long-term sustainability means making decisions shaped by this and future generations, not the electoral cycle. Aotearoa New Zealand has the renewable resources, the partnership frameworks, and the community energy capability to lead – but that requires regulation, investment, and procurement to align with that future.
Building Nations 2026 brings together the people who can make that alignment happen. The future energy system won’t be handed down from policy documents. It will be built together – empowering people to take part in the energy transition and amplifying the impact we deliver for communities.