Kawerau Mayor Faylene Tunui says Foresta’s proposed wood pellet plant in the Putauaki Trust Industrial Zone will couple economic growth with environmental stewardship - kaitiaki taiao.

The plant, once built, will convert radiata pine into torrefied wood pellets that can be used as an environmentally friendly substitute for coal.

While not quite ready to turn the soil on the plant, Australian company Foresta’s directors and senior management were in Kawerau to give an encouraging progress report to Mrs Tunui and Putauaki Trust representatives on Wednesday.

The plant promises to bring over 50 new jobs to Kawerau while helping decarbonise New Zealand’s energy supply.

Foresta is in negotiations with Genesis Energy to supply pellets for electricity generation at Huntly Power Station and hopes to eventually replace all of the energy company’s coal with torrefied wood pellets.

“We are hoping to kick off works in October,” said Foresta’s head of project development and delivery Alex Johnson.

The company announced in April last year that it had signed a 30-year lease with a 20 year right of renewal on 9.6 hectares of land in the Putauaki Trust Industrial Zone to build their $300 million plant.

The Foresta plant will use the entire tree, including the currently underutilised stumps and tops of the trees.

It is hoped this will mitigate the issue of slash left behind by the forestry industry after harvesting.

“Foresta announced that funding, project planning, and contracts for supply and production are all well underway which, thanks to environmentally sustainable production processes, is great news for Kawerau and Aotearoa New Zealand,” Mrs Tunui said.

She acknowledged Putauaki Trust for working to secure this significant “anchor tenant” operation in Kawerau on their industrial park, which is already home to Waiū Dairy, another value-added manufacturing operation.

“Economic growth relies on communities, iwi and council collaborating for the benefit of our shared future,” she said.

“The development of the industrial park by Putauaki Trust unlocks huge potential for current and future generations. These new businesses offer new jobs and incomes that can help people raise their families here in Kawerau."

Kawerau was just the pilot project for Foresta in New Zealand.

The management team said to replace all the coal used in New Zealand, it would require them to produce 200 tonnes of pellets. To do that they would require 11 plants like the one they plan to build in Kawerau.

Executive director Maurice Fabiani said the project was going to plan and the board was fully committed to it.

“We’ve gone beyond the point of no return as far as the company is concerned. All told, there is probably getting close to $30 million that we have invested in this project to get it where we are today.

“We have a long-term vision and I think it will be wonderful for the community, for the region, and for New Zealand as a whole. At the end of the day it is going to help decarbonise the nation.”

Ms Johnson said consent had been granted in March through the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Act and as part of the conditions of the consent, work must take place between September and the end of April.

Further consenting would be required if work overflowed into May. It was very close to finalising contract negotiations with its main contractor, and with Putauaki Trust around enabling works for the site.

Full funding for the project was yet to be secured but executive chairman Henry Chang said they were hoping to make some public announcements toward the end of September.

Mrs Tunui said it was important to think about the footprints that were left behind.

She said 71 years ago, when industries were being developed in Kawerau, it had been about making money at any cost to the environment.

“Our land continues to suffer and our awa suffered. I am still, in 2025, recognised as the mayor of the town with the black drain.

"Shifting into decarbonisation is the polar opposite of what used to happen here in Kawerau."

Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air