It’s about to get electric.

Lakes Marina Projects Ltd and Electric Wave Ltd have been given the nod to electrify part of the Frankton marina.

Two ‘‘fingers’’ from one pier of the Sugar Lane marina will be removed and replaced with one shorter and wider finger, on which two electric boat charging cabinets will be installed, marking the first time electric marine will be introduced to Lake Whakatipu.

It follows news last week Meridian Energy’s to bring the world’s first electric hydrofoiling ferry to Lake Manapōuri next year, to be used by Meridian to transport staff and contractors servicing its hydropower station there.

Queenstown businessman Rod Drury says Frankton marina’s electrification opens the door to effectively decarbonise the lake, and use Queenstown as a ‘‘test lab’’ for e-marine applications.

He believes the lake’s the perfect place for it, because vessels return to the place they left from.

Drury, who’s working closely with marina developer Iraj Barabi, says there are three primary opportunities it’ll present — electric wake surf boats, e-jetboats and electric foiling ferries, similar to the Swedish-designed Candela P-12, to be used in Lake Manapōuri.

The future awaits. . . A concept design of the Swedish-designed Candela P-12 electric hydrofoiling ferry floating on Lake Manapouri

Destination Queenstown boss Mat Woods says the development opens the gate for Queenstown to use e-marine as a viable public transport option, noting over a century ago the TSS Earnslaw was one of the original ways people moved around the Basin.

‘‘Obviously we have a lot of congestion on our roads, and building more roads isn’t necessarily the answer, but utilising an under-utilised asset, like the lake, is a great way to move around and, in particular, if we can do that in a decarbonised way, using electric marine craft.’’

He says while some people think the idea’s ‘‘all a bit dreamy’’, Wellington is already using the electric East by West Ferries, which carry about 85 people and has a 45-minute runtime between charges, while EV Maritime’s building two 200-people electric ferries for Auckland City Council, and fellow Kiwi company Seachange is building an electric hydrofoiling ferry.

The advantage of the latter is they use 90% less energy, because the whole boat’s not in the water, and therefore there’s a longer runtime.

‘‘The second advantage is they can handle rough wave conditions, because they’re actually flying above it.’’

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