Mayor welcomes potential new investment at former WPI mill site

Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton has welcomed proposals for a biofuel production facility and data centre campus at the former Winstone Pulp International (WPI) Karioi mill site, saying they offer the prospect of significant new investment and employment opportunities for the district.

WPI closed its central North Island mills two years ago, citing unsustainable energy prices, and costing more than 200 permanent jobs, with further job losses in supporting industries.

Mayor Kirton said the closures compounded the economic impact of the Chateau Tongariro Hotel’s closure and the collapse of ski field operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts.

“These successive blows have cost jobs, reduced business and visitor spending, displaced people and put pressure on Ruapehu communities and the wider central North Island economy,” he said.

“Bringing productive activity back to Karioi is welcome news that could help rebuild confidence, create much-needed jobs and generate work for local suppliers, contractors and other businesses.”

Two separate developments proposed

The proposed future use of the former pulp mill site involves two separate developments: a wood pellet production facility by Te Ara Hiko bio-coal, as recently reported in the media, and a co-located data centre campus operated by Data Igloo.

Te Ara Hiko proposes to construct and operate a manufacturing facility producing 180,000 tonnes of wood fuel pellets a year for domestic and export customers.

The proposal would repurpose existing wood-processing infrastructure using regional forestry resources and supporting employment in the wood-processing sector.

Alongside it, Data Igloo proposes a data centre campus providing secure, energy-efficient storage, compute colocation and sovereign data storage and processing.

Data Igloo says its design differs from large, water- and power-intensive overseas data centres by separating low-energy storage from intensive processing and using the region’s climate to reduce cooling and energy needs.

Both developments remain in the planning stages.

Environmental safeguards essential

Mayor Kirton acknowledged that local iwi Ngāti Rangi opposed Te Ara Hiko’s consent application in its current form because of proposed wastewater condensate discharges into the Whangaehu River.

“Restoring employment and economic activity is important, but so is protecting our environment and the health of the awa.

However, I am confident that Te Ara Hiko and Ngāti Rangi can work together to address these concerns,” he said.

Building confidence in the environmental safeguards will be essential to establishing a successful, enduring operation.

While I am positive about these opportunities and want to see them explored thoroughly, the outcome we should be working towards is lasting employment and investment that supports our communities while protecting the environment that sustains us.”

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