How close did Northland’s Ngāwhā geothermal plant come to being closed down? Spoiler alert – very close indeed. Why? And how did lateral thinking save the day?

In this week’s episode of the True North podcast we speak with Fabian Hanik, assistant plant manager at the Ngāwhā geothermal power station near Kaikohe, about how close Northland came to losing its prized geothermal generation plant.

And how some radical out-of-the-box thinking, backed by some Number 8 wire and a company with a lot to lose, averted closure.

There are some fantastic lessons in here for businesses anywhere. About fostering and enabling innovation at subject matter expert-level, about trust, about capability, andabout backing your own people when the temptation might be to rely on the views of outsiders.

Links to items referred to in the show:

News stories about the government’s City and Regional Deal decision:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/565742/government-begins-negotiations-with-councils-for-regional-deals

https://www.dia.govt.nz/Regional-Deals-MoUs-underway

RNZ story about the payment to former FNDC chief executive Blair King:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/565312/far-north-district-council-ordered-to-pay-former-ceo-blair-king-210-000

Kaipara District promotional website:

https://www.kaipara.govt.nz/news/post/859-New-website-launched-to-showcase-Kaipara

Northern Advocate story about McKay building electric ferries for Samoa:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/on-the-up-whangarei-firm-mckay-to-make-samoas-first-electric-boats/CIGYUSFTPFAFPHJPNQDORSAPO4/

Ngawha 'Carbon Zero' Project - detailed technical presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAvRtZy1vCE