Māori Housing Renewable Energy Fund
Funding was allocated through multiple funding rounds with the final set of projects announced in September 2023. The Fund is now closed.
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Projects in scope
Projects in-scope for this fund included:
- Small-scale solar photovoltaic generation at a household level, or potentially small-scale combined installations such as community-scale generation
- Small-scale local energy storage, for example household lithium ion batteries
- Solar water heating
- Technologies and solutions to maximise the benefits of energy generation to the target household such as smart appliances and timing switches, hot water diverters, or information to households on how to best manage their energy use
- Innovative distribution and retail solutions to manage energy from the local generation and storage, for example microgrids and peer-to-peer trading to share excess energy generation with other households.
Eligibility
To be eligible for funding, projects had to focus on installing renewable energy technology, and benefit people in Māori housing, for example:
- Residents of housing on whenua Māori
- Papakāinga residents
- Tenants of Māori Community Housing Providers
- Māori households or partners working with the Crown through initiatives such as Te Puni Kōkiri Māori Housing investment and the MAIHI programme
- Households benefitting from housing or energy programmes predominantly led by, or for, Māori-affiliated or Māori-run organisations.
- Any other housing interests or initiatives that predominantly benefit iwi, hapū or whānau.
Funding details
- The maximum amount of funding sought in a single funding round was $400,000 for a small-scale project.
- In the third funding round, Māori organisations, or organisations working on behalf of Māori, with proposals for larger projects could apply for funding up to a maximum of $2 million per project.
- A successful application in one round did not guarantee further funding would be granted in future rounds.
- Funding to deliver projects was allocated as grants through contracts with recipients. These contracts were developed for each individual project. Recipients are responsible for procurement directly with suppliers.
- Proposals for co-funding of projects were considered on a case-by-case basis.
Funded projects
In December 2020, the government called for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for possible renewable energy projects on Māori housing.
Each EOI was assessed against the funding assessment criteria and projects predominantly led by, or for, Māori-affiliated or Māori-run organisations were prioritised over projects for individual homes.
Renewable energy projects for Māori housing goals, objectives and funding criteria [PDF, 246 KB]
14 projects were granted funding for the first funding round, totalling $2.8 million. Due to the high number of EOIs, organisations behind the remaining projects shortlisted in the first round were invited to re-submit their EOI for round 2.
12 projects were granted funding in the second round, totalling $2.3 million.
Funding round 3 opened in March 2022, this time calling for applications for small-scale projects that supported at least 4 households. This funding round also sought Requests for Proposals for larger-scale projects.
In March 2023, 16 projects were granted funding totalling $3 million in the first part of round 3 for small-scale projects.
The final part of round 3 focused on larger-scale renewable energy projects, particularly those that were more innovative or in areas not well represented by projects that have already received funding. Proposals for feasibility studies were not being considered in this round.
Following an extensive evaluation process, 7 projects were granted funding, totalling $6.4 million, in the second part of round 3.
$2 million of this was from the $46 million Community Renewable Energy Fund as all 7 large-scale projects met the objectives of this Fund.
View the list of funded projects
Read about some of the projects and the impact they’re having:
Spotlight on completed projects
New funding for community-based renewable energy projects
In May 2022, the Government announced $16 million over 4 years to support small-scale community renewable energy projects. A further $30 million was committed in Budget 2023. This fund builds on and expands the successful Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund and aims to support renewable energy projects that help communities to access secure, renewable and more affordable energy.
More information is available at:
Media releases
New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz
Proposals sought for renewable energy trials on Māori housing, December 2020(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz
Solar power initiative win for Māori households and future renewable projects, May 2021*(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz
*This media release announced 15 projects would receive $2.8 million. This later changed to 14 projects with the remaining funding being added to the funding pool in round 2.
More Māori households to benefit from low-cost clean energy fund, March 2022(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz
Government clean energy fund to slash power bills for more Māori and public homes, March 2022(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz
Solar tech boost a cost saver for Māori households(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz