Sunergise Group has won the 2026 SEANZ Trailblazer Award, recognising the company’s role in progressing renewable energy delivery across New Zealand and the Pacific. The award honours leaders who shift the industry forward through strategic foresight, action, and groundbreaking projects.
Founded in Auckland in 2012, Sunergise has grown from a single-country solar platform into one of the Pacific’s largest privately-owned solar and storage group, with three brands; Sunergise, PowerSmart, and Clay Energy operating across 16 Pacific nations. The vertically integrated model unites project ownership, engineering and construction, and long-term operations and maintenance under one platform.
The award recognised a project portfolio spanning New Zealand’s largest rooftop solar installation at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (5.3 megawatts, East Tāmaki), a 2.79-megawatt solar farm combined with 8.19-megawatt hours battery storage on Niue that puts the island nation on track for its 80 per cent renewable energy target, the innovative low-carbon mounting rail system developed with Vulcan in Hamilton, and the recently completed 1.05-megawatt ground-mounted installation at Snowplanet in Silverdale, Australasia’s only operating indoor ski venue. On Niue, 80 per cent of onsite labour was sourced locally, and the project included a structured STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education programme which reached the wider Niue community, including primary and secondary schools, building local capability and understanding for renewable energy.
“We measure leadership in megawatts delivered and in lasting benefits to the communities those megawatts serve,” says Paul Makumbe, CEO of Sunergise. “This award reflects both.”
Sunergise has now won a total of over 30 industry awards.
