VZCZCXRO4083
PP RUEHAP RUEHKN RUEHKR RUEHMJ RUEHNZ RUEHPB
DE RUEHWL #0391/01 3232019
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 182019Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5546
INFO RUEHAP/AMEMBASSY APIA 0516
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0445
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0088
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0129
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 5328
RUEHKN/AMEMBASSY KOLONIA 0033
RUEHKR/AMEMBASSY KOROR 0023
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 0202
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0216
RUEHMJ/AMEMBASSY MAJURO 0135
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0340
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 0764
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 0023
RUEHSV/AMEMBASSY SUVA 0774
RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND 1798
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WELLINGTON 000391 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG KRGY ELTN KGHG PREL NZ
SUBJECT: SANDIA EXPLORES RENEWABLE ENERGY TRANSPORTATION 
PROJECTS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: On October 31 - November 1, Sandia 
National Laboratories (Sandia) representatives Bruce Balfour 
and Dr. Blake Simmons visited New Zealand to solicit support 
for a Sandia  proposal to create a global network of 
public-private partnerships for the development and 
deployment of low-carbon transportation solutions to combat 
global climate change.  This was the first of several 
international visits planned by Sandia to introduce the 
proposal.  The New Zealand responses were positive though 
there were no solid commitments to HITEC, particularly given 
New Zealand's many competing priorities in this sector.  End 
Summary. 
 
Sandia Looking for Partners 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Sandia National Laboratories' representatives Bruce 
Balfour and Dr. Blake Simmons visited Auckland, Rotorua and 
Wellington from October 31 through November 1 and conducted a 
series of meetings with GNZ officials, researchers and energy 
producers to explain, promote, and obtain support for a 
Sandia project entitled the Hub for Innovation in the 
Transportation Energy Community (HITEC).  Balfour and Simmons 
also sought to obtain energy-related contacts and an overview 
of renewable energy transportation projects within New 
Zealand.  Balfour's role within Sandia is to promote external 
partnerships and business development for Sandia; Simmons is 
the manager of Sandia's Energy Systems Department. 
 
¶3.  (U) Sandia is a USG-owned organization within the U.S. 
Department of Energy that is operated under contract by 
Lockheed Martin.  Its facilities are located in Livermore, 
California and Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Sandia, born out of 
the Manhattan Project in 1945, is the largest of DOE's 
national laboratories with approximately 10,000 employees and 
a budget of USD 2.4 billion (2007). 
 
HITEC -- A Global Partnership 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Sandia envisions HITEC will become a network of 
global public-private partnerships involving industry, 
governments, national laboratories, and universities with a 
goal to discover, develop, deploy, and commercialize 
innovative low-carbon transportation energy solutions. 
According to Balfour and Simmons, HITEC is in its formative 
stage, and NZ was the first country in which the concept was 
proposed to potential international partners.  Sandia also 
intends to visit and solicit participation from Australia, 
Britain, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, the PRC, and 
Saudi Arabia.  In the initial phase of HITEC, Sandia is 
soliciting letters of support for the project and input for 
the make-up of a steering committee that would guide the 
structure, funding and work of HITEC.  In phase two, 
according to Balfour and Simmons, HITEC would use financial 
contributions from participating partners to leverage 
potential matching funds from DOE, and would seek to engage 
other USG agencies in HITEC projects. 
 
New Zealand Not Encouraging 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Balfour and Simmons met with representatives from 
several GNZ ministries dealing with energy and 
transport-related issues: the Ministry of Research, Science 
and Technology (MoRST); the Ministry of Economic Development 
(MED); the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF); and 
the Ministry of Transportation (MoT).  They also discussed 
the HITEC proposal with representatives of the National 
Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and Scion 
Research Limited (both are GNZ-owned research institutes), 
with Meridian Energy Limited (a GNZ-owned electricity 
producer), and with Lanzatech New Zealand Limited (a 
 
WELLINGTON 00000391  002 OF 002 
 
 
privately corporation engaged in energy research and 
production).  Poloff accompanied Balfour and Simmons in all 
of their meetings, with the exception of NIWA, Scion and 
Lanzatech. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Balfour and Simmons said that the reactions to the 
HITEC proposal from NIWA, Scion and Lanzatech were 
enthusiastic and positive.  In fact, according to Balfour and 
Simmons, they appeared ready to sign letters of support 
immediately, but deferred commitment pending review by the 
organizations' leadership.  The response from Meridian was 
noncommittal and it requested another meeting with the Sandia 
representatives during their planned return to New Zealand in 
December 2008. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) At the meeting between Balfour, Simmons, and 
representatives of the GNZ ministries with energy and 
transportation portfolios, the GNZ response was less 
optimistic.  Eric Pyle, the director of environmental and 
social programs for MoRST and the spokesperson for the 
ministries that met with Sandia, commented that New Zealand 
is a relatively small country with a limited budget and that 
the GNZ recently endorsed and committed financial support for 
the Energy Development in Island Nations (EDIN) project (a 
joint GNZ, USG and Government of Iceland venture to promote 
renewable energy development in island nations). 
Consequently, Pyle predicted that New Zealand would be 
unlikely to endorse participation in HITEC. 
 
Comment: Interested But Spread Thinly 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) As with all multilateral initiatives, the GNZ is 
wary to sign up for fear of spreading its limited resources 
too thinly.  With the GNZ currently engaged in EDIN, 
officials are skeptical they have adequate personnel and 
funds to take on another initiative with overlapping 
objectives.  GNZ-owned research institutes and energy 
companies, however, have considerable freedom to engage in 
international partnerships without central government 
approval (especially with non-GNZ funds received from 
independent revenue sources), and they may decide to 
participate in HITEC.  End Comment. 
McCORMICK