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Meridian Energy Limited Annual Shareholder Meeting

AGM11 October 2023MELUtilities

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MERIDIAN ENERGY ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING – 12 OCTOBER 2023


CHAIR ADDRESS

SLIDE 2

Moving to today’s business, I declare the 2023 Annual Shareholder Meeting open. The meeting has

been duly convened and a quorum is present. The minutes of last year’s meeting have been posted

on Meridian’s website and are held by the Company Secretary.


Today’s meeting is being held both in-person and online via the Computershare Online Meetings

platform. This allows Shareholders, Proxies and Guests who were not able to travel and attend the

meeting in person, the ability to attend the meeting virtually. All online attendees can watch a live

webcast of the meeting and read the company documents associated with the meeting. In addition,

shareholders and proxies have the ability to ask questions and to submit votes.


For those of you attending the meeting virtually, if you have a question to submit during the live

meeting, please select the Q&A tab on the right half of your screen anytime. Type your question into

the field and press send. Your question will be immediately submitted. Should you require any

assistance, you can type your query and one of the Computershare team will assist via the chat

function. Alternatively, you can call Computershare on 0800-650-034.


Please note, that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them until the

relevant time in the meeting. Your questions may be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions

on one topic, amalgamated together. Finally, due to time constraints we may run out of time to

answer all your questions. If this happens, we will answer them via email.


Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. In order to provide all

attendees with enough time to vote, I will shortly open the online voting for all resolutions.


At that time, if you are eligible to vote at this meeting, you will be able to cast your vote under the

Vote tab. Once the voting has opened, the resolutions will allow votes to be submitted. To vote,

simply select your voting direction from the options on screen. You can vote for all resolutions at

once or by each resolution.

Your vote has been cast when the tick appears. To change your vote, simply select ‘Change Your

Vote’. You have the ability to change your vote, up until the time I declare voting closed.

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Persons attending the meeting, who are not shareholders, proxy holders, or corporate

representatives of a shareholder, may not vote. This includes bond holders.


Voting is now open on all items of business. The resolutions will now be open in the vote tab. Please

submit your votes at any time. I will give you a warning before I move to close voting.


SLIDE 3

I will begin by introducing the Meridian Board and some of the Management Team.


SLIDE 4

This year the hybrid meeting invites you to join in person and online. You will note our Management

Team and Board have also followed this approach. Hybrid is largely driven by our commitment to

show leadership in sustainable practice and specifically reduce the carbon and cost associated with

this event. Meridian Board Members present at Durham Street today are: Julia Hoare, Mark Cairns,

Tania Simpson, and David Carter.


Meridian board members joining the meeting online are: Nagaja Sanatkumar, Michelle Henderson,

and Graham Cockroft.


Also present with me at the venue are Chief Executive Neal Barclay, Chief Financial Officer Mike

Roan, General Counsel Jason Woolley, and Claire Shaw, General Manager Sustainability and

Corporate Affairs.


The rest of Meridian’s executive team is here online.


SLIDE 5

With a purpose of Clean Energy for a Fairer and Healthier World, it is only right that a company of

Meridian’s size and stature, is doing what it must do to combat climate change, protect the

environment, and be a good corporate citizen. Helping Aotearoa New Zealand achieve its climate

change goals and transition to net zero, underpins our business decisions and shapes the way that

we operate.

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It has been pleasing to see a large number of industrial decarbonisation projects announced over the

last few years utilising the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry, or GIDI fund. These

projects will reduce New Zealand’s emissions by more than 1.5m tonnes of CO2 per annum. But

there is much more to do for Aotearoa to reach our Emissions Reduction Targets and the Emissions

Trading Scheme, or ETS, will be key in achieving that outcome. The ETS was developed to provide a

sinking lid on total net emissions and to send price signals that incentivised businesses to act. It is

critical that successive Governments avoid the temptation to tinker with this market mechanism and

that the ETS evolves in a way that the country can have enduring confidence in. The incentives need

to be there for businesses and people to invest in reducing gross emissions. We can’t just offset our

way to a net zero carbon economy.


SLIDE 6

Aotearoa’s electricity market continues to rate in the top 10 of the OECD countries in terms of

affordability, security, and sustainability. This market is working really well. Data from MBIE shows

New Zealanders are benefiting from the range of retail choices available to them. And it is important

not to conflate prices in the electricity wholesale market directly into the prices our customers

pay. Wholesale pricing is an input into end pricing, yes, but no more than that. It is also important to

note that other inputs include the costs of transmission and distribution, which are all reflected in a

customer's bill.


After adjusting for inflation, residential and business prices have trended down in New Zealand for

the last 10 years. Over that same time frame, electricity costs, as a percentage of average household

income, have fallen from 2.4% to 1.8%. This is a reduction of 25%. And while industrial prices have

risen over recent years, they are competitive internationally. Despite this, we recognise the rising

costs of living mean more New Zealanders are finding it hard to pay for the essentials, like power.

We are very conscious of this.


Meridian has been, and intends to always be, fully compliant with the Electricity Authority’s

Consumer Care Guidelines. But that is a base level requirement. Our record on customer care speaks

for itself. We continue to have extremely low disconnection rates and our credit team operate to a

mantra that we do not disconnect any person who genuinely wants to pay their bill, even if

sometimes they cannot.

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We demonstrated our commitment to customers last year when we introduced our Energy

Wellbeing Programme pilot. This pilot aimed to help customers in hardship obtain and afford

adequate energy services in their homes to support their wellbeing and the wellbeing of their

whanau. We were very pleased with the tangible difference the programme made for 130

households that were struggling. Following the success of the pilot, the Board agreed to expand the

Energy Wellbeing Programme to help 5,000 households across the Meridian group by investing $5

million over two years.


The programme involves building partnerships with communities that enable us to offer different

levels of energy-efficiency interventions. So far, we have supported 1,500 households and we will be

doubling this in the next six months.


As a company, we’ve started bringing teams together to think about how we can resolve

decarbonisation and hardship together. For example, giving people ‘energy sovereignty’ that could

involve providing customers in hardship with access to batteries or solar and virtual power plants, or

demand-response-flexibility products. We have many good brains collaborating on this right now.


SLIDE 7

Electrification of transport and industry is one of the best ways for Aotearoa to prioritise and combat

climate change, particularly given these sectors are directly responsible for almost a quarter of this

country’s gross carbon emissions. So, it is vital that we continue to build new renewable generation

assets, and enhance our existing ones, to ensure that we can meet the future growth in electricity

demand. We expect that by 2050 Aotearoa will require around 30 billion dollars of investment in

new renewable generation. For Meridian to do its share of the heavy lifting, we’ll need to build the

equivalent of 20 wind farms in the next 27 years.


This will require massive capital investment, and for that investment to be supported, Aotearoa

must have an enabling Resource Management Framework, especially when it comes to consenting.

Consenting authorities need to be able to balance localised environmental impacts and community

views with the national and global imperative to reduce emissions through large-scale renewable

energy projects. At this stage, it is not clear to us whether the new Natural and Built Environment

Act will make it easier to build renewable generation – key elements like the National Policy

Statement for Renewable Electricity Generation remain a work in progress. A change in Government

could also see policy settings change. Whatever happens, this sector will remain highly aligned and

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engaged with government on the need for a Resource Management Framework that supports and

prioritises renewable generation.


The Government also completed a pre-election drop of a range of consultation papers on energy

topics, including gas transition and a hydrogen roadmap. Cabinet has also decided to further

investigate the Lake Onslow pumped hydro storage scheme and a more market-based portfolio

approach, as the two options under the NZ Battery project. All of this activity is aiming to inform the

NZ Energy Strategy. However, any change in government could see a different approach here too.


But the overarching imperative for New Zealand to achieve net zero carbon by 2050 will not change,

nor will the fact that renewable electricity is the single largest enabler of the economic climate-

related transition before us. So, we are confident that Meridian’s strategy to focus our efforts on

Climate Action is sound. We will continue to develop renewable generation options and to support

customers to decarbonise their homes and businesses, whilst doing what we can to support those

customers suffering hardship. This strategic direction will hold this business in good stead.


SLIDE 8

We continue to advocate for balanced and diverse views at Board level to oversee Meridian’s

strategy and guide the business through the years ahead. We welcomed two new Non-Executive

Directors to our Board this 2023 financial year, Graham Cockroft and David Carter. Graham and

David are both experienced business leaders who we know will add significant value to our business.

We also welcomed Benjamin Bateman (Ngai Tahu) as our next Future Director.


We will also be saying goodbye today to Mark Cairns. Mark has been on the board since 2012 and

Mark has been the chair of our Safety and Sustainability Committee for much of that time. His

leadership has led to an appropriately high focus on these areas of risk for the business, but

importantly on the opportunities to create and enhance long term value by thinking about what

being truly sustainable means. And we will personally miss his zealot-like approach to focussing on

EV infrastructure development to encourage EV uptake. Mark, you have been a champion for the

cause, and you will be missed.


SLIDE 9

I will conclude my comments by making some observations on Meridian’s shareholder returns.

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On the back of a strong cash operating result, the Board has declared a final ordinary dividend of

11.90 cents per share, up 3% on the previous year, bringing the total ordinary dividends declared in

FY23 to 17.90 cents per share, also up 3% on the previous year. The Dividend Reinvestment Plan

remains available for those investors wishing to take advantage of it.


Given we are approaching the 10-year anniversary of Meridian’s listing, it’s worth reflecting that

total shareholder returns since listing have totalled 380%, compared to the NZX50 growth over the

same period of 130%. It’s fair to say the Company has performed well for investors since

listing. Looking forward, the sale of our Australian operations in January 2022 strengthened our

balance sheet considerably and we have the investment capacity to support the growth strategies of

our retail, renewable generation and Southern Green Hydrogen Projects. The Board is therefore

confident that Meridian can play its part in New Zealand’s decarbonisation programme, whilst

continuing to deliver competitive returns for investors.


Thank you for continuing to invest in and support our Company.


I will now ask our Chief Executive, Neal Barclay, to address the meeting.


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CHIEF EXECUTIVE REVIEW

SLIDE 10

Kia ora Mark and tena tatou katoa.

Ko Neal Barclay toku ingoa.


I’d like to start by introducing you to Meridian’s Executive team, who are here with us either online

or in person.


SLIDE 11

They are:

Lisa Hannifin, Chief Customer Officer

Mike Roan, Chief Financial Officer

Bharat Ratanpal, Chief Information Officer

Nic Kennedy is our Chief Executive of Flux Federation.

Tania Palmer, General Manager of Generation

Jason Stein, Chief People Officer

Chris Ewers, General Manager of Wholesale

Claire Shaw, General Manager of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs

Guy Waipara, General Manager of Development

Jason Woolley, General Counsel and Company Secretary


The Executive has proved to be a stable and productive team in the past year.


Nic Kennedy now reports to an independent board, as we want to accelerate growth in that

business. Nic remains a key member of the executive talent at Meridian.


SLIDE 12

It only seems right to start my address talking about the great team that we have in Meridian,

because it is this team that has enabled our business to continue to be successful and to grow.


The rate of change in our industry is only speeding up and our ability as a business to anticipate and

lead change, whilst delivering solutions for our customers, is all down to our people and our

culture.

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This year, we’ve invested a lot of time and effort into ensuring that Meridian continues to offer a

great employee experience, so we continue to attract and retain talent. Our Belonging Strategy is

aimed at building on our diversity and encouraging a true sense of belonging that defies ethnic,

belief and gender constraints. We introduced a Te Ao Māori strategy during the year aimed at lifting

the overall cultural capability of our people and supporting us to better recognise Māori values in

how we operate, and how we attract and retain Māori in our workforce.


Remuneration and benefits obviously have a part to play in maintaining a skilled and engaged team,

and with this in mind we refreshed our benefits package, adding some important new features such

as health insurance for all staff and wellbeing leave. We also believe that we have effectively

normalised hybrid ways of working and, in doing so, enhanced productivity across the company.


In the years ahead, as we accelerate our renewable construction programme, we are committed to

managing the safety risks for our people, and to doing so we will continue to work alongside other

sector safety groups. This year we have reviewed and rebuilt our understanding and controls to

manage critical risks. We ended the year with a calculated total recordable injury frequency rate for

employees and contractors per 200,000 hours worked of 1.76, compared with 1.58 in FY22. Overall

these results compare well with industry averages.


SLIDE 13

It is important to us, as the largest renewable energy generator in Aotearoa, that we walk the talk

when it comes to sustainability and climate action. But, to succeed, we must work together across

the Meridian team, with communities, our customers and sector peers. Whether we’re working on

material actions or small details, we need to continue to challenge ourselves to make the changes

that will have the most impact in supporting New Zealand’s transition to net zero by 2050.


It was pleasing to see that our sustainability efforts were once again recognised this year, when

Meridian was named one of Aotearoa’s most sustainable companies in the Kantar Better Futures

Report. This is good recognition, but the overarching sentiment in our business is that we must

continue to maintain and grow momentum, because significant and meaningful change is needed,

right now.


This is why we’ve continued to focus on our Climate Action Plan, which includes ambitious targets

for renewable electricity generation, customer decarbonisation, and managing our own emissions.

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A great example of progress can be seen in our approach to our Harapaki wind farm development in

Hawkes Bay. We estimate that we have avoided construction-related emissions of between the

equivalent of 15,000 and 20,000 tonnes of C02, through a detailed focus on the reduction of

embodied carbon in the design stage and careful on-site actions during construction. We have

specific sustainability roles, and we continue to build intellectual property that will benchmark

sustainable practice for all future projects in our development pipeline.


Our Forever Forests project, which is our plan to create a permanent native forest carbon sink, will

eventually see 1.5 million trees sequester the remaining carbon that we cannot remove from our

operations after our Half by 2030 targets have been achieved. Now, we have around 1,214 hectares

of land in the programme and around 300,000 trees planted. We are on track to have 700,000 trees

in the ground by the end of this financial year.


SLIDE 14

We need to invest heavily in renewable electricity generation to support Aotearoa’s goal of net zero

emissions by 2050.

To achieve this scale of development, we firstly need to make sure that we have the capability to

deliver it. Having retained a Renewable Development Team for a number of years, we are investing

strongly in supporting their progress. This has seen that team double in size over the last couple of

years. This has helped us more than double the size of potential renewable projects and has created

a deep pipeline of development options, totalling more than 11,000 GWhs. This is equivalent to 90%

of our existing generation portfolio. This pipeline will undoubtedly change over time, but our focus is

to create a portfolio of options that will support business growth for the next 30 years.


We are continuing to progress well with our Ruakākā Energy Park in Northland. At Ruakākā we are

building New Zealand’s first grid scale battery and we have also lodged consent for a 120MW solar

farm, as part of the same development.


In May this year, we lodged consent for our Mount Munro wind farm, a 90MW development in the

Wairarapa. And we are currently expecting to lodge consent for our 130MW Swannanoa solar

project near Christchurch early next year.


And hot of the press, this morning we announced an agreement with Parkwind, an experienced

European offshore wind developer, to jointly explore offshore wind generation in New Zealand. The

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risks and complexities of building wind farms in the ocean are far different than onshore, and it is

great to have an experienced partner on board to position us to harness Aotearoa’s offshore wind

potential.


Our work to reconsent the Waitaki Power Scheme reached a significant milestone in August when

we lodged a new consent application. We are seeking a further 35-year operating consent from April

2025. The consent seeks to cover the six hydro power stations that we manage within that scheme

under the same conditions as we have today. We have been working with many interested people

for many years to ensure our application has strong support across the board. Importantly, we’ve

reached agreement with DOC to turbo charge Project River Recovery. And we are developing a

strong partnership with the Waitaki Rūnaka of Ngāi Tahu that will deliver environmental and cultural

benefits for generations to come.


The Harapaki wind farm has worn the impacts of three ex-tropical cyclones and a number of other

large rainfall events during the first two years of construction. Cyclone Gabrielle, we all know,

caused widespread damage over a large area, including within our construction site. As we signalled

in the middle of the year, we’ve lost around 3 months to the schedule, but the project is now out of

the ground and large turbine components are being transported to and erected at site. We should

get the whole thing stood up and operating by September next year. The Harapaki wind farm will

produce enough power to supply around 70,000 homes and just as importantly, will help improve

grid resilience into the Hawkes Bay region.


We are working with credible and committed partners on Southern Green Hydrogen. Woodside and

Mitsui are there, and we have secured the option for Ngāi Tahu to join the Joint Venture at the point

of financial commitment. There is complexity in the technical and commercial terms of the

development phase, so progress has been careful because we need the Joint Venture foundations to

be right. What we have here is real, hydrogen will play a significant part in the future low carbon

energy system in New Zealand. For me Southern Green Hydrogen represents not only a strong

commercial opportunity for our business but even more importantly, a significant step toward

energy independence for our country.


SLIDE 15

We signalled last year that we would be evolving our customer approach to concentrate on

developing energy solutions focused on electric vehicles, rooftop solar and batteries, process heat

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and demand flexibility. This customer strategy aligns with our company’s decarbonisation agenda

and will support customers to take emissions out of their own operations whilst saving money on

their overall energy bills.


We have quietly built up the country’s second largest Public EV charging network and now have 269

Zero branded charging points across both North and South Islands.


Our Certified Renewable Energy product has also enabled around 100 large business customers to

purchase more than 660GWh of Renewable Energy Certificates this year. This enables those

customers to legitimately offset their scope 2 emissions and improve the sustainability and

marketing of their products. Renewable Energy Certificates are of particular value to customers who

are engaged in export markets, as they reflect New Zealand’s competitive advantage inherent in our

highly renewable electricity system.


Further, we’ve committed to reinvest all the proceeds from our Renewable Energy Certificates sales

into a new decarbonisation fund. To date, more than $1.2 million has been raised and all of that is

going into projects that support climate action.


We have been working with 15 companies over the last 3 years to support them to reduce their

emissions profiles from process heat. These businesses that you can see on screen today, including

some well-known South Island brands, are making significant changes to their businesses to help

combat climate change. We commend them for showing leadership and getting on with it.


We continue to support demand response opportunities wherever possible. Customers who can

manage their demand down and reduce their electricity usage when supply is constrained, for

example when the southern hydro lakes are low or during very cold winter morning or evening

peaks, can be paid handsomely for not using energy at those times and that also avoids having to

add gas and coal fired generation into the system. It is like creating megawatts without having to

build them and it is a strong win/win opportunity for those customers and the electricity system as a

whole. Meridian has commitments of up to 90MW of seasonal demand response from customers,

the equivalent of the annual capacity of the next wind farm we are looking to build. This is also a key

reason we are pursuing our Southern Green Hydrogen Project. With the right incentives in place,

Southern Green Hydrogen can flexibly manage its demand on the electricity system in a way that

could eliminate up to 40% of New Zealand’s dry year risk.

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And there’s a lot more to come.


SLIDE 16

Despite a range of weather challenges during the last financial year, healthy electricity generation

numbers and continued growth in retail sales, ensured a strong financial result.


Whilst we reported a net profit after tax of $95 million for the year ended 30 June 2023, the

accounting result was heavily influenced by a negative $375 million net change in fair value of

energy hedges. These non-cash fair value adjustments relate to transactions that will mature in

future years. As a better measure of actual performance within the year, EBITDAF of $783 million

was up 10% on the prior year and underlying net profit after tax, which is a non-GAAP measure, was

also up 35% to $315 million.


I think, overall, the business is in very good shape. We’ve continued to deliver incremental cash

earnings, supporting a progressive dividend approach, whilst also building on our pipeline of future

growth opportunities.


To finish up, I’d like to thank you, our shareholders, for continuing to invest in Meridian. I’d like to

thank our Board, for their support, challenge and clear focus on creating long term value. And I’d

like to thank my management team and the broader Meridian whānau who are unwavering in their

efforts to deliver on our company purpose - clean energy for a fairer and healthier world. We’re

looking forward to embracing the challenges ahead and growing our business in a way that supports

our country’s net zero emissions goals.

Thank you.


ENDS

---

2023 Annual Shareholder Meeting
12 OCTOBER 2023

Chair’s address
Chief Executive’s review

Shareholder questions

Resolutions and voting

Today’s business

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

2

Cover: Completed first turbine at the Harapakiwind farm, Hawke’s BayPart of Meridian’s EV Zero electric vehicle charging network

3
Chair’s address

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Lake Benmore and the Waitaki River in the South Island’s Waitaki District

4
Our Board

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Nagaja Sanatkumar

Julia Hoare

Graham Cockroft

David Carter

Benjamin Bateman

Michelle Henderson

Mark Verbiest

Tania Simpson

Mark Cairns (ret.)

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New Zealand decarbonisation

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

38.238.2

39.8

38.2

36.6

41.3

41.3

32.7

22.8

11.4

79.579.5

72.5

61.0

48.0

0

20

40

60

80

100

2014-172018-212022-252026-302031-35

Mt CO2e

New Zealand average annual emissions

TotalNon agricultureAgriculture

2014-172018-21

Source: Stats NZ, Aotearoa New Zealand’s First Emissions Reduction Plan

Emissions Reduction Plan Targets

2022

actual

75.3

§Retail electricity pricing continuing to
decline in real terms

§Meridian is fully compliant with the

Electricity Authority’s consumer care

guidelines

§Launched a $5 million Energy

Wellbeing Fund to work with 5,000

households over next two years

6

Customer outcomes

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

20132014201520162017201820192020202120222023

c/KWh

Unit electricity costs (real)

ResidentialCommercialIndustrial

Source: Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment HīkinaWhakatutuki

excluding GSTexcluding GSTincluding GST

7
Policy and regulation

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

199720002003200620092012201520182021202420272030203320362039204220452048

TWh

Financial Year ended 30 June

Annual market demand for generation

Source: Meridian

history

range of future growth

$30+

billion of

new

generation

investment

§Graham Cockroftelected as a
Director a year ago

§David Carter appointed as a Director

in July 2023 and standing for election

at this meeting

§Mark Cairns retiring today after 11

years as a Director

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Board changes

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

16.42
16.9016.90

17.40

17.90

4.88

2.44

0

5

10

15

20

25

20192020202120222023

Financial Year ended 30 June

Total dividends declared

Ordinary dividendsSpecial dividends

60%

10%

12%

-8%

25%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

20192020202120222023

Financial Year ended 30 June

Total shareholder return

1

Meridian TSRNZX50 Index

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Shareholder returns

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Source: Meridian

Source: Meridian, Refinitiv

1

share price change plus gross dividend yield

380%

TSR

since

2013

10
Chief Executive’s review

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Electric boiler at Meadow Mushrooms site in Hornby, Christchurch

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Executive team

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Neal Barclay

Tania Palmer

Mike Roan

Lisa Hannifin

Guy Waipara

Jason Woolley

Claire ShawJason Stein

Nic Kennedy

Chris EwersBharat Ratanpal

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Our people

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

13
Meridian’s decarbonisation

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Cl!ma"e Ac"!on Plan

Mer!d!an#s purpose of Clean energy for a fa!rer and health!er world !s at

the centre of everyth!ng we do on our $ourney to a res!l!ent% net zero future&

Our

purpose

Our key

init!tives

* Meridi!n’s oper!tion!l emission bound!ry includes !ll Scope 1, 2 !nd 3 c!tegories, excluding !ll one-time construction emissions from m!jor projects !nd !ll !ctivities th!t !re c!pit!lised !s p!rt of renew!ble energy projects. From our FY21 b!seline (excluding Meridi!n Austr!li!).

These key init!tives !lign with our commitment to contribute me!ningfully to the United N!tions (UN) Sust!in!ble Development Go!ls (SDGs) where we c!n h!ve most imp!ct – such !s SDG13 Clim!te Action.

See our Sust"in"bility Policy for further det!il. Where we c!n’t reduce our oper!tion!l emissions right now, we offset using Gold St!nd!rd Verified Emission Reductions !nd h!ve done since FY19

Our

priorities

Renewable

generat!on

Customer

decarbon!sat!on

Manag!ng our em!ss!ons

and ensur!ng res!l!ence

Renew'ble energy

development pipeline

Cre!ting ! pipeline of grid-sc!le projects

re!dy for construction. First horizon “7x7”

focused on 7 projects in the 7 ye!rs to 2030.

Construction of new gener'tion 'ssets

Beginning with H!r!p!ki wind f!rm, we’re

building new !ssets to incre!se supply from our

existing 100% renew!ble energy !sset b!se.

New opportunities – hydrogen

Adv!ncing ! new p!rtnership opportunity to

develop ! green hydrogen centre to support

dec!rbonis!tion in Aote!ro! !nd !bro!d.

Process he't

Helping businesses repl!ce fossil fuel boilers

with electrode boilers !nd he!t pumps.

Electric vehicles

'nd ch'rging network

M!king it e!sier for NZers to drive electric.

Dem'nd flexibility

Pl!ying our p!rt in cre!ting ! more flexible

energy system th!t en!bles sm!rter use of

electricity !nd widespre!d electrific!tion.

Construction emissions

Reducing emissions !s we build new gener!tion

!ssets, !nd our new offsetting commitment

H'lf by 30

*


Our science-!ligned gross emissions reduction

t!rget for Scope 1, 2 !nd 3 oper!tion!l emissions.

H!lving tot!l emissions by FY30 on ! FY21 b!seline.

Forever Forests

Our n!ture b!sed response to grow ! perm!nent,

!nd over time 100% n!tive, emissions sink.

Clim'te risk 'nd 'd'pt'tion

Our continued commitment to !ssess !nd

m!n!ge our clim!te-rel!ted risks, including

!d!pt!tion.

AUGUST 2023

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Meridian’s renewable development pipeline

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

§Doubling of pipeline in FY23 to 4.7GW (11.1TWh) of development options

§1.5GW secured, 3.2GW in advanced prospects

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Customer decarbonisation

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

§237 Zero charging points operating

§640GWh of Certified Renewable Energy

§40MW of committed demand flexibility

§472GWh of committed process heat demand, including;

Building Resilience Spotlight

An incre!se in upt!ke of distributed energy resources,

such !s, sol!r !nd b!tteries deployed !t the source of the

dem!nd such !s !t homes or within the community, could

provide the opportunity to build resilience in the event of

extreme we!ther events.

Process he!t electrific!tion

Our process he!t electrific!tion offer helps our customers to

get off co!l. By providing long term competitive price cert!inty

!nd funding support plus p!rtnering with businesses to develop

tr!nsition pl!ns !nd !ccess co-funding, we’re supporting

businesses to tr!nsition to low c!rbon fuel sources.

Electric vehicles

Meridi!n is rolling out ! n!tionwide EV Ch!rging network c!lled

Zero to support the upt!ke of electric vehicles. Our home !nd

business ch!rging solutions support the much-needed upt!ke

of priv!te sm!rt ch!rging.

Commerci!l sc!le sol!r

We support our l!rge customers with commerci!l-sc!le sol!r

solutions. We offer p!yment flexibility with ! buy-now option

or customers c!n choose ! Power Purch!se Agreement with

no upfront c!pit!l costs !nd where we’ll design, inst!ll !nd

m!int!in ! sol!r system for you.

Dem!nd Flexibility

In our efforts to dec!rbonise Aote!ro! by electrifying industry

!nd tr!nsport, the dem!nd for electricity is growing. With much

of our energy supply reli!nt on intermittent renew!ble gener!tion,

this puts pressure on our electricity system. Dem!nd Flexibility

is !bout being sm!rt with how !nd when we use electricity to

en!ble ! cost-effective dec!rbonis!tion journey – th!t still meets

!ll our electricity needs. By working sm!rtly with EV ch!rgers,

industri!l he!t processes, sol!r, b!tteries, hot w!ter cylinders !nd

our customers, we !re cre!ting m!rket le!ding dem!nd flexibility

products en!bled through ! Virtu!l Power Pl!nt !nd m!king

things simple for customers to m!ximise upt!ke.

Certified Renew!ble Energy

Meridi!n’s Certified Renew!ble Energy product en!bles

customers to m!tch their electricity consumption with our

renew!ble energy gener!tion through Renew!ble Energy

Certific!tes !nd report their m!rket-b!sed scope 2 emissions

!s zero. Net proceeds from Renew!ble Energy Certific!tes

!re then invested into our Dec!rbonis!tion Fund.

Dec!rbonis!tion Fund

This Fund h!s been est!blished to reinvest !ll net proceeds

from RECs b!ck into either business or community-led

dec!rbonis!tion projects th!t reduce emissions !nd incre!se

distributed gener!tion. Community groups c!n !pply for

funds to help with the cost of purch!sing EVs, inst!lling EV

ch!rging, or !dding sol!r p!nels to help lower energy bills.

Our longer-term !ppro!ch

We h!ve ! new te!m focused on Energy Innov!tion in our

Ret!il business unit to help us better lever!ge clim!te-rel!ted

opportunities. In 2024 we look forw!rd to sh!ring our longer-

term !ppro!ch to t!rgets !nd metrics th!t focus on our progress

helping our customers lower their emissions !nd how we cre!te

more flexibility in the New Ze!l!nd power system.

We’re t!king !ction to ensure customers c!n p!rticip!te in the

tr!nsition to net zero, without widening the g!p for vulner!ble

customers or those f!cing energy h!rdship. This ye!r we l!unched

the Energy Wellbeing Progr!mme to ! pilot group of vulner!ble

customers to reduce the imp!ct of four key drivers of energy

h!rdship. In FY24 we will !lso be m!king it e!sier for customers

to purch!se EV ch!rgers by m!king it possible for them to p!y

the costs b!ck through their energy bill.

Cus"omer dec!rbonis!"ion

We !re committed to helping reduce the c!rbon emissions of homes !nd businesses

by developing !nd delivering products th!t help to m!ke the energy tr!nsition.

cle!ner !nd che!per

for our customers.

Distributed Gen/Stor!geProcess He!tTr!nsport Dem!nd Flexibility

VPP

Predict

Optimise

Aggreg!te

Products/offers for customers th!t m!ke

electrific!tion e!sier !nd more !fford!ble

Me!sured by customer C0" reduction

Active m!n!gement of

flexible dem!nd or stor!ge

Me!sured by customers p!rticip!ting in

Virtu!l Power Pl!nt & MW !v!il!ble

Meridi!n supports customer

dec!rbonis!tion by m!king energy

cle!ner !nd che!per for NZ homes,

businesses !nd communities

+=

↓↓↘↙

Meridi

!

n Energy Limited


Clim

!

te Action Pl

!

n

4

774
787

692

709

783

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

20192020202120222023

$M

Financial Year ended 30 June

EBITDAF

1

339

175

415

451

95

0

100

200

300

400

500

20192020202120222023

$M

Financial Year ended 30 June

Net profit after tax (continuing operations)

16

Financial performance

1

Earnings from continuing operations before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, changes in fair value of hedges, impairments and gains or losses on sale of assets

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Source: Meridian

Source: Meridian

17
Shareholder questions

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Blade transport at the Harapakiwind farm in Hawkes Bay

18
Resolutions and voting

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Forever Forests tree planting at West Wind farm, near Wellington

19
Resolution 1

Re-election of Mark Verbiest

That Mark Verbiest, who retires by

rotation and is eligible for re-election,

be re-elected as a Director of the

Company.

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

20
Resolution 2

Election of David Carter

That David Carter (appointed as a

Director of the Company by the Board

with effect from 25 July 2023), who

retires and is eligible for election, be

elected as a Director of the Company.

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Resolution 1:Resolution 2:
Re-election of Mark

Verbiest

Election of David

Carter

Postal and online votes already cast

For1,996,654,1292,008,542,969

Against13,740,3881,844,320

Abstain199,833226,793

Votes appointed to proxies not yet cast

1

12,416,05912,396,327

Total2,023,010,4092,023,010,409

21

Vote totals

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

1

Votes held by the Chair, Directors and other proxies

22
Closing

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Lake Manapōuri, Fiordland National Park, Southland

23
Disclaimer

The information in this presentation was prepared by Meridian

Energy with due care and attention. However, the information is

supplied in summary form and is therefore not necessarily complete,

and no representation is made as to the accuracy, completeness or

reliability of the information. In addition, neither the company nor

any of its directors, employees, shareholders nor any other person

shall have liability whatsoever to any person for any loss (including,

without limitation, arising from any fault or negligence) arising from

this presentation or any information supplied in connection with it.

This presentation may contain forward-looking statements and

projections. These reflect Meridian’s current expectations, based on

what it thinks are reasonable assumptions. Meridian gives no

warranty or representation as to its future financial performance or

any future matter. Except as required by law or NZX or ASX listing

rules, Meridian is not obliged to update this presentation after its

release, even if things change materially.

This presentation does not constitute financial advice. Further, this

presentation is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or

a solicitation of an offer to buy Meridian Energy securities and may

not be relied upon in connection with any purchase of Meridian

Energy securities.

This presentation contains a number ofnon-GAAP financial

measures, including Energy Margin, EBITDAF, Underlying NPAT and

gearing. Because they are not defined by GAAP or IFRS, Meridian's

calculation of these measures may differ from similarly titled

measures presented by other companies and they should not be

considered in isolation from, or construed as an alternative to, other

financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Although

Meridian believes they provide useful information in measuring the

financial performance and condition of Meridian's business, readers

are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these non-GAAP

financial measures.

The information contained in this presentation should be considered

in conjunction with the company’s financial statements, which are

included in Meridian’s integrated report for the year ended 30 June

2023 and is available at:

www.meridianenergy.co.nz/investors

All currency amounts are in New Zealand dollars unless stated

otherwise.

12 OCTOBER 20232023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

Data sourced from publicly available filings. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.

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