2026-07-20

Contact Energy’s Māpuna Platform Shows the Value of Purpose-Built Software

Summary

Contact Energy’s Māpuna platform has been recognised as an innovation finalist in the 2026 New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards. The internally developed system unifies decades of geothermal data and replaces manual spreadsheet-based processes. Reported productivity gains show how specialised enterprise software can deliver measurable operational value.

Our Analysis

• We see Māpuna as a strong example of software built around operational expertise, not generic feature checklists.
• The reported time savings make a compelling business case for replacing spreadsheet-heavy workflows.
• Auckland developers can learn from Contact’s focus on integration, usability and future extensibility.
• Our team expects more sector-specific platforms to emerge across New Zealand’s essential industries.

Full Story

Contact Energy’s internally developed Māpuna platform is demonstrating how purpose-built software can improve operational performance in New Zealand’s energy sector. The geothermal reservoir management system was highlighted on 16 July 2026 as a finalist in the New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards’ innovation category.

Developed by Contact’s geothermal specialists and technology team, Māpuna consolidates more than 70 years of operational information into one cloud-hosted platform. It brings together well locations, geology, casing integrity, pressure, temperature and survey data for more than 650 production, injection and monitoring wells across the Taupō region.

The platform replaces fragmented legacy software, spreadsheets and manual data handling. Contact says one well-condition processing task has been reduced from approximately 24 minutes to less than one minute, while pressure-data reporting has fallen from about 90 minutes to roughly 30 seconds.

For software development companies serving New Zealand enterprises, the case highlights demand for systems designed around specialised workflows rather than generic applications. Māpuna also provides a practical model for integrating operational data, automation and future advanced analytics into critical business processes.