City's steam age pulls delegates

Te Ururoa Flavell says there is still a lot of undiscovered potential in the use of geothermal activity in the region. Photo / Supplied

More than 200 international geothermal delegates are in Rotorua to learn about the use of geothermal activity in the area.

They are visiting after the 2015 World Geothermal Congress in Melbourne last week. The six-day conference was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand to connect the international geothermal community and to allow the exchange of ideas and research.

The delegates were given a presentation on the history of region's geothermal use, in tourism and power, on Monday night at the Holiday Inn.

Maori Party co-leader and Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell, who spoke at the function, said geothermal activity was important to local iwi.

"People here know about geothermal because they live and work among it on a daily basis. Once upon a time, geothermal was our food, it kept us warm, and it was behind our tourism," he said.

Mayor Steve Chadwick said the development of geothermal was crucial for the area's economy.

"Geothermal is at the heart of our economic development. We want to work with science and geothermal specialists to see what might be possible in the future," she said.

Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges was impressed with how geothermal had developed nationally and in the region.

"The story of iwi and more generally Maori and Maori trusts is just about as strong and remarkable as you'll get in anything. The way it's gone from a small handful of millions of dollars to, in many cases, hundreds of millions of dollars of value for them and for our country - that is an integral part of the geothermal story of New Zealand," he said.

Forty delegates visited PlentyFlora yesterday to witness how the Rotorua gerbera growing business used geothermal energy for its greenhouse, solely heated by two bores since 2008.

PlentyFlora owner Harald Esendam said his operation was not hi-tech, but reasonably unique: "I don't know of any other company using it the way we are using it.

"We just took them on a tour around because we are using geothermal as the new energy source and explained how we are getting the hot water. It's still a work in progress.

"All the scientists were enthusiastic about what we do here."

Geothermal was clean, renewable and cost-effective, and more enjoyable than other forms of power used in the greenhouse, such as diesel heaters.

Another group of 40 will visit PlentyFlora today.