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Diesel generators, you're cooked! We’ve seen a few of our electric communities plug in to their EVs at small events and that's great to see, but Hamish Roberge from Tom Tom Productions in Queenstown has developed a solution that can be rolled out for bigger gigs. Roberge is currently on the job delivering the third Electrify Queenstown conference and it was during last year's conference that he was inspired to create NRG Event Batteries.
He looked around for other options that were already on the market, but couldn't find the right solution so he built one himself with the help of a bank loan.
He says the quiet, clean 76 kWh substitution is designed for music events, remote weddings, corporate events and film sets.
"The more you dive into it, it's better for events. And the fact that it has environmental benefits is just an added bonus on the end."
He says it's around the same price as running a diesel generator, but the price of diesel is "pretty spicy" right now and unlikely to come down quickly, whereas charging via cheap solar could bring that price down.
During the first Electrify Queenstown conference, Mike Casey brought his electric tractor along and plugged in some electric heaters to warm the marquee for the exhibition. Gas heaters were not going to fly at an event like that. And, increasingly, with battery powered options like this one, diesel generators aren't going to cut it for events either.
The expensive fuel prices triggered by the choking of the Hormuz Strait were not stopping an undercurrent of change, Rewiring Aotearoa chief executive Mike Casey said. "We're talking about kitchen table or dinner table decisions rather than board- room table decisions." Casey, who runs a fully electric cherry farm in Central Otago, said New Zealand could benefit from introducing a “salary sacrifice" scheme similar to one available in Australia for people wanting to buy new electric cars. “We can get brand new basic electric cars onto the road ... for under $200 a week, at least for people in New Zealand, for our essential workers, for our teachers, for our nurses, and that includes registration, insurance, maintenance, energy and the car itself."
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