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Private company

Solid Energy

New Zealand coal mining company

Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government. The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state owned enterprise called Coal Corporation in 1987 (known as Coalcorp), and renamed Solid Energy New Zealand Limited in 1997.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1987Founded1

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Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government.2

Leadership

Who has led Solid Energy, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

Coal operations

Solid Energy produced approximately 85% of New Zealand's coal annually. Each year it produced around 4 million tonnes, more than half of it for export.

Solid Energy had proposed opening two further mines: the Cypress Mine and the Mt William North Mining Project.

In 2006, Solid Energy bought Newvale Coal Co Limited and acquired the Newvale opencast mine, located in the Waimumu coal field in Southland. The Newvale mine supplies lignite to the domestic market, including to Fonterra's Edendale dairy plant. In December 2010 the Terrace mine near Reefton, which had closed in 2009, was sold to Crusader Coal. In October 2011 Solid Energy opened the small opencast Reddale Mine near Reefton on the West Coast.

Renewable energy operations

Solid Energy had previously invested heavily in the development of renewable energy in New Zealand, but due to the retrenchment begun in mid-2012, significant restructuring occurred. The biodiesel business was divested and now exists as two separate business: Biodiesel New Zealand which manufactures biodiesel, and Pure Oil NZ which manages the agri-business operations.

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Switch, the wholesale distributor of wood pellet fires and Apricus solar hot water systems, was absorbed by Nature's Flame, a manufacturer of wood pellet fuel. Nature's Flame was restructured to be a stand-alone business, although was still an asset of Solid Energy. Nature's Flame produces wood pellets for home heating. The company claims that the wood pellets are a sustainable, renewable fuel that burns so efficiently it is virtually smokeless, and that it meets stringent new clean air standards. According to Solid Energy's 2008 Annual Report, Nature's Flame was the largest manufacturer of wood pellets in the Southern Hemisphere. Nature's Flame began in 2003, when Solid Energy purchased a small wood pellet company based at Rolleston.

Solid Energy applied for a resource consent for a hydro-electric power station at its Stockton Mine.

From Wikipedia’s article on Solid Energy, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1987Founded Founded1

Sources

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