South Island Rowing is a voluntary organisation that operates and maintains the Rowing Centre on the shores of beautiful Lake Ruataniwha. It was developed as part of the Waitaki Hydro project in the 1970s and 80s and is now an internationally recognised rowing course. South Island Rowing are passionate about promoting and fostering the sport of rowing – holding training camps, regattas and functions at their venues throughout the year.
They’re on a journey to reduce their carbon emissions and are working hard to be more sustainable in the way they run their facilities. Thanks to Meridian’s Community Decarbonisation Fund, they’re installing solar panels to cover part of their power usage – creating new renewable energy generation and lowering their carbon emissions, so that the next generation of Kiwi rowers will continue to enjoy the excellent rowing conditions that the Waitaki area offers.
The fund is all thanks to our partnership with our Certified Renewable Energy (Certified) customers.
Certified enables Meridian’s business customers to match the amount of electricity they use, with an equivalent amount of electricity put into the national grid from one of our hydro stations or wind farms – which have been independently verified as producing 100% renewable electricity.
All of the net proceeds from Certified are used to support electrification projects across Aotearoa. Together, with our Certified customers, we’ve funded more more than $1 million in grassroots community projects that reduce carbon emissions and provide a tangible positive impact for many community groups.
