As part of the project, resource consents were required for the development of a battery energy storage system (BESS) and a solar farm, along with various aspects of the civil works required. Boffa Miskell conducted ecological surveys and prepared an Assessment of Ecological Effects. Whangārei District Council resource consent was granted in February 2024. We provided expert evidence for the Northland Regional Council (NRC) consent process, including a hearing and subsequent mediation. NRC consent was granted in January 2025.
Specialist consultants provided advice and expertise across a range of ecological fields, including wetland delineation and vegetation surveys, avifauna, bats, lizards, and wetland restoration and construction. GIS mapping was an important tool used throughout. Despite its degraded state, the site presented challenges due to the extent of wetlands and the foraging habitat they provide for threatened species such as the Australasian bittern (matuku hūrepo) and New Zealand dabchick (weweia).
The scope of the project evolved to include around 30 hectares of ecological habitat creation, protection and restoration, including wetlands and surrounding dune shrubland, which will provide quality habitat for taonga species such as the matuku hūrepo. Meridian is also conserving 5 hectares of kānuka shrubland on dunes within the project site, which will provide habitat for native lizards.
Boffa Miskell ecologists and biosecurity consultants have continued to support the project through the development of ecological management plans to meet consent conditions, ongoing ecological surveys and monitoring, and pest management advice. This included an Avifauna Management Plan to manage potential effects during construction and to monitor for collisions with solar panels once operational. The collision monitoring is innovative for New Zealand, providing a scientifically and statistically robust method to quantify effects, if any.
Once construction commenced, Boffa Miskell’s ongoing involvement in the project has included implementation of effects management measures and monitoring as required by the lizard, avifauna, bat, fish and pest management plans, and ecological oversight of the habitat restoration.
Meridian Energy’s BESS and solar farm as part of the Ruakākā Energy Park will reduce Northland’s reliance on electricity generated in other parts of the country and help improve the security of electricity supply, while supporting New Zealand’s transition to 100% renewable electricity generation.
First and second image source: Photoblique
