Our Impact

Bridging the gap from school leavers to highly skilled graduates, EPECentre has formed a 23-year partnership with industry—the Aruhiko Power Engineering Excellence Trust—which has funded around $2.5M in scholarships and supported a wide range of outreach and support initiatives. In our position, we have been asked to support numerous industry associations with insights and learnings to assist the workforce development. This includes participation in industry groups and presenting to the likes of the Electricity Networks Association Workforce Capacity and Capability Review and the Electricity Authority’s Security and Reliability Council.

Green electricity is the accepted energy vector of the future. EPECentre is right in the centre of the energy transition and decarbonisation space. In addition to advising and supporting industry, we also perform independent research to support policy and regulation.

Some recent examples are:

• Domestic Space and Hot Water Heating (2025) for EECA
  This work was commissioned by the NZ Government’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to inform their setting of standards and guidance to the public around how we will heat our homes and hot water.

• Canterbury Energy Inventory (2024) for MPI/ECAN/Canterbury Mayoral Forum
  The Ministry for Primary Industries, along with Environment Canterbury, were tasked by the Canterbury Mayoral Forum to develop an energy inventory that would form the basis of future regional policy around energy in Canterbury. EPECentre were advisors and reviewers for MPI, engaging specifically through stakeholder workshops, expert peer review, and supporting data visualisation for information collected through regional energy scenario studies.

• Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Charging Efficiency Evaluation and OCPP compliance testing (2023) for EECA
  This work was commissioned by the NZ Government’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and the Australian Government to understand the baseline of energy efficiency and compliance with remote power management of EV chargers. This was used to set a list of compliant models of product for use in AUS/NZ.

• Evaluating the opportunity to engineer a transition to a low-carbon freight transport system in New Zealand (2022) for Swire Shipping
  Heavy transport is a major carbon emitter in Aotearoa. However, there is little deep understanding of the carbon balance between road, rail, and sea. We were commissioned to take a deep dive into the ‘whole of system’ emissions of heavy transport and create a public resource that accurately mapped the emissions of heavy freight, from tire wear to goods loading.
  Holistic energy transition research necessarily requires interdisciplinary collaboration, and this project is a strong example of that. It brought together experts from data science, energy engineering, transport modelling, lifecycle analysis, and geospatial science to develop a robust, system-wide view of heavy freight transportation.

EPECentre is committed to being an active member of our community.

Recent community engagement includes:

• The technology behind MagLev trains (2025)
  RNZ interview

• Concerns new Cook Strait ferries won't be rail capable (2024)
  RNZ interview

• Energy review and advice for Ōnuku Marae (2024)
  Supporting Ōnuku Marae to lower their energy costs through an extensive review of the marae complex and usage patterns. A rewarding opportunity to work with good people in a lovely place to improve their energy opportunities.

• What might an energy transition look like for Lyttelton (2024)
  Guest speaker for Lyttelton Energy Transition Society. Engaging with a highly motivated grass-roots community action group, presenting ideas and answering questions.

• Opportunities for energy transition in Canterbury (2024) 
  Ōtautahi Innovation Expo panellist. Discussing with ‘the average Kiwi’ the steps they can take to transition to lower carbon options for everyday life, and answering audience questions.

• Massive Solar Energy Investment in Canterbury (2023)
  RNZ interview

• Canterbury's Energy Future (2023) 
  Panellist for Energy Exchange hosted by Orion. Presenting the latest research and reaching out to engage with local innovators and investors.

• A shift to coastal shipping and rail could cut NZ’s freight transport emissions – why aren’t we doing it (2023) 
  The Conversation

• Residential Solar Energy (2023) 
  Mens Shed Auckland

• EECA Energywise™ Solar Calculator (2019) 
  EECA public tool

EPECentre has a unique role of being highly linked to the academic departments and is a popular student project sponsor, providing real-world challenges and the support to create success. We also provide undergraduates with summer research scholarships, which are highly valued by students interested to trial what a postgraduate role is like.

Through the Aruhiko PEET programme, we also run annual high-school visits to showcase engineering and what a career in the energy sector might look like.

We also support wider UC outreach activities, including Aukaha Tau 12 and Xplore Pathways.

EPECentre’s core focus is research. Our team brings together a diverse skill set, covering complex power systems, sensing technologies, and power electronics, extending into the broader domains of renewable energy and the energy transition.

We are highly active collaborators, working across most of the UC spectrum, from engineering and science to marketing and human psychology.

Major projects

EPECentre is a holder, or a major contributor to, the following research projects:

• Horizon Europe SOLAR Photovoltaic to MOVE for Systems Integration
  2025-2029
  Holder: University of Lisbon, Portugal
  Investigating the potential for range extension using vehicle-integrated solar cells.

• MBIE SSIF High Magnetic Field Electric Propulsion for Space
  2020-2027
  Holder: VUW Robinson Institute
  Research on electric propulsion for small satellites, to enable higher value missions, transforming the space industry in NZ.

• MBIE SSIF AETP Electrification of Heavy Transport
  2021-2026
  Holder: VUW Robinson Institute
  Development of a high-temperature superconducting motor for application an a decarbonised, electrified future heavy transport system.

• MBIE SSIF AETP Architecture of the Future Low-Carbon, Resilient, Electrical Power System
  2020-2027
  Holder: UC ECE
  Investigating the potential for improving the efficiency of our electricity network as we look to a future of DC-based renewable energy sources.

• MBIE SSIF Food Imaging
  2021-2026
  Holder: EPECentre
  Investigating the use of electromagnetic techniques for sensing foreign bodies and process contaminants in food processing to improve our national food production efficiency.

• MBIE Green Grid
  2012-2018
  Holder: EPECentre
  Investigating a smart grid to enable future trends of renewable electricity generation.

• MBIE Joule Log Heating
  2011-2019
  Holder: EPECentre
  Investigating electric Joule heating of timber for treatment, process preparation, and timber analytics

EPECentre is an eager communicator of research. The following are examples of presentations we have done for industry or academia:

• Increasing resilience to natural hazards in the electric power transmission network (2022)
  EEA: This presentation examined the growing wealth of information around natural hazards and its application to pre-empt disasters by using prediction to prepare ahead of time – for example staging repair crews and equipment either side of ‘weak links’ in transport infrastructure.

• Overview of what has to hold true for Green Hydrogen to be a ‘Black Swan’ (2022)
  Orion: This was a board-level but technical walk through the practical application and expected uptake and impacts of a green hydrogen from an electricity distribution company’s perspective.

• Optimising Reserve for Contingencies while Explicitly Including Response Speed of Reserve Providers (2020)
  Transpower

• A Stochastic Method for Assessing Electric Vehicle Hosting Capacity in Low Voltage Distribution Networks (2020)
  EEA
  

• Investigations into LV Distribution pillars (LV pedestal—failure events and material characterization for an EDB) (2020)
  EEA: Presentation of root cause analysis of incidents of combusting low voltage distribution pillars.

• Opportunities for repurposing EV batteries for stationary energy applications in New Zealand (2020)
  EEA

• Trapezoidal Current Generator for an Electromagnetic Groundwater Flowmeter (2020) and Nonlinear System Identification for an Electromagnetic Groundwater Flowmeter (2020)
  I2MTC: Presentations of non-invasive ground-water flow measurement research project under a Nation Science Challenge collaboration between Lincoln Agritech, Robinson Institute, GNS Science.

EPECentre performs significant research for industry – from studies to inform future investment, through to solving practical problems. Some recent examples are:

Freight & Transport

• Study – GHD – National Freight Demand – supporting GHD with expert analysis for their study (2024).

• Report – European Commission – Clean Sky 2 – Nacelle cowl NExt generation Opening System (NNEOS) – Final Public Report (2022).

• R&D – NNEOS HT Motor – Design of a high-temperature actuator motor for Airbus (2022).

Renewable Energy use & Impacts

• Study – Confidential – Initial report on aspects of the potential use of renewable energy technologies in a proposed self-powered sustainable housing and innovation campus (2023). This was a study supporting a fast-track consent application for a very large ‘energy campus’ that included energy-intensive enterprises, such as milk drying, cool stores, and food production, as well as living.

• Study – DairyNZ – Our Land and Water: Future Dairy Solar Scenarios – investigating the potential energy impacts of electrified and automated farm machinery (2023).

• Study – Trust Horizon – Emissions Accounting for Trust Horizon's Proposed Rooftop PV Installation (2021).

• Study – DARC Technologies – Optimum Solar Tilts for Multiple Tilt PV Mounting System and Related Topics (2020).

Electric Vehicles & LV Network

• Study – Network Waitaki – EV Charging Capability Study – Impact on Network Waitaki’s Low Voltage Distribution Network (2023).

• Study – Orion – EV Charging Capability Study – Impact on Orion’s Low Voltage Distribution Network (2021).

• Study – Orion – Low Voltage Network Analysis: Electric Vehicle Impact Study (2020).

Faults, Testing & Verification

• Testing – Confidential – EPECentre test report for electrical cabinet mechanical tests based on AS/NZS 61439.5:2016 plus condensation effects (2022). This work looked at verifying the design of electrical cabinets that were at risk of field failure and fire.

• Study – Confidential – Feasibility of AAPL HVDC Cable Fault Location (2021).

• Testing – Confidential – Investigation of Low Voltage Distribution Pedestals (2020). Root cause analysis of incidents of combusting low voltage distribution pillars.

• Verification – Confidential – Power switching devices under extreme loads (2020).  This work looked at verifying performance of a novel circuit breaker for a local start-up company.

Energy Storage

• Study – DARC Technologies – Battery Technology Research: Feasibility Analysis of Electric Vehicle Battery Repurposing for Battery Energy Storage (2020).