Energy Minister Megan Woods is expected to announce on Tuesday that funding for electric ferries in Auckland has been approved. Photo / Mark Tantrum
Energy Minister Megan Woods is expected to announce on Tuesday that funding for electric ferries in Auckland has been approved. Photo / Mark Tantrum
Electric ferries are finally coming to Auckland. The Herald has learned from several sources that the Government has approved funding for the immediate construction of two electric ferries for the Waitematā Harbour.
Minister of Energy and Resources Megan Woods will make the announcement next Tuesday.
The ferries will be builtin Auckland and used on inner harbour and mid-harbour routes, including Devonport, Hobsonville Pt and Half Moon Bay. It is expected they will begin service in 2024.
The Government will contribute $27 million to the cost of the ferries and associated wharf infrastructure. This will include fast-charging facilities. The ferries will be owned by Auckland Transport, which is expected to seek bids from operators for their use.
This decision follows an earlier proposal from ferry operators Fullers360 and a local company called EV Maritime, which is an offshoot of the boatbuilding company McMullen & Wing, based in the Tāmaki estuary. That proposal was for three ferries designed by EV Maritime, as stage one in a larger scheme to develop an e-ferry industry in the city.
Artist's impression of an EV Maritime electric ferry, now to be built for Auckland. Image / supplied
But as reported by the Herald in March last year, Auckland Council did not promote that proposal in its application for "shovel-ready" funding through the Infrastructure Reference Group (IRG). Instead, e-ferries were relegated to a non-priority item of "more ferries".
IRG did not recommend e-ferries to Cabinet, but the proposal was sent for analysis to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).
The Herald understands EECA has completed due diligence on the plan and it now has a detailed business case. EV Maritime's designs are complete and construction could begin "within weeks", according to one source.
The two ferries will have an internal capacity of about 200, with additional seating outside, bike storage and on-board café facilities. They will have a composite carbon-fibre construction, using New Zealand's world-leading technology in this field.
The ferries will not be suitable for use on other routes such as Waiheke and Gulf Harbour, although this could change with future e-ferry services. Currently, Waiheke does not have the electricity capacity for recharging, which would undermine the efficiency of the ferries on that route.
Auckland is not the leader with e-ferries. Last month, Wellington became the first city in the Southern Hemisphere with a fully electric passenger ferry service. East by West's new ferry Ika Rere (flying fish) now sails between Days Bay and downtown with a capacity of 135, up from 99 in the old diesel ferries.
East by West's Ika Rere electric ferry in Wellington. Photo / supplied
Ika Rere was built in the Hutt Valley by the Wellington Electric Boat Building Company and, like the planned EV Maritime/McMullen & Wing ferries, it has a composite carbon-fibre construction.
These companies are now poised to develop an industry with the potential "to stimulate $500 million to $900m of sustainable construction activity", with "300 high-skilled jobs", according to Fullers and other sources last year. Their electric ferries also have the potential to save millions of tonnes of carbon emissions.
The minister's office has advised it will not be commenting ahead of the announcement on Tuesday.
