Lodestone Energy’s Third And Largest Solar Farm Powers Up

Lodestone Energy, Aotearoa’s leader in utility-scale solar generation development, has reached another significant milestone with its third and largest solar farm to date, Te Herenga o Te Rā, starting generation. The farm will generate approximately 69 GWh of clean renewable electricity annually from over 71,600 high-efficiency bifacial solar panels – enough to power nearly 10,000 homes a year.

Construction on Te Herenga o Te Rā in the Waiotahe Valley, Bay of Plenty began in December 2023 following first generation of Lodestone’s inaugural solar farm, Kohirā in Kaitaia. The farm has been developed in collaboration with local community stakeholders, including hapū Te Ūpokorehe, which gifted the farm its name, which translates to ‘The mooring place of the sun’.

Richard Pearce, Chief Operating Officer of Lodestone Energy, said: “While 27% larger in capacity than our first farm, Kohirā, we have achieved first generation in a similar timeframe. As we develop more utility scale solar farms our team and primary construction partners, Infratec and New Energy, are streamlining our builds to deliver efficiencies on each subsequent project.”

Te Herenga o Te Rā is New Zealand’s first solar farm to be connected directly to Transpower’s national grid. Lodestone’s first two farms are connected to their local distribution networks and its fourth farm, currently under construction in Whitianga, will be connected to the Powerco distribution network.

Gary Holden, Managing Director of Lodestone Energy, said: “Utility scale solar is the lowest cost form of energy and the country will need significant volumes of new solar in order to build a more resilient, secure, lower cost energy system.“

“As Lodestone continues to lead investment in the country’s renewable electricity generation, it was critically important that policy and market settings encouraged investor capital into the sector and enabled developments to be executed faster.”

The development of this farm has been made possible through Lodestone’s long-term partnerships with The Warehouse Group and Inghams NZ. Both companies are positioning themselves as sustainability leaders, with their long-term commitment to powering their businesses through renewable energy. The certified renewable electricity generated by Te Herenga o Te Rā will significantly contribute to delivering on their plans to rapidly decarbonise their operations.

Gary Holden emphasised the power of customer partnerships, saying: “Our partners are not only solving their own energy needs, but they are also enabling new infrastructure to be built that will benefit Aotearoa for decades to come. With nine further farms planned over the coming three years, we are already in discussions with a range of commercial partners looking to secure their energy futures.”

Lodestone is again using an agrivoltaics design approach, enabling electricity generation to coexist alongside agricultural activities. The design sets the panels widely apart and high above the ground allowing machinery to operate and grazing or horticultural activities to continue around them.

In addition to the environmental benefits of solar energy, Te Herenga o Te Rā is delivering broader value to its community. The build itself has injected economic value through job creation and upskilling opportunities, while the increased supply of locally generated electricity will contribute to the region's energy resilience long into the future.

Lodestone plans to continue to bring significant new projects to market with further sites in Dargaville, Manawatu, and Canterbury scheduled to begin construction in 2025. By 2028, Lodestone aims to generate over 800 GWh of certified renewable energy annually, tripling New Zealand's solar production from 2022 levels. *

*MBIE Annual electricity generation data

About Lodestone Energy

Lodestone Energy Limited is New Zealand’s leading utility-scale solar generation company. It was founded in 2019 to accelerate the national effort to decarbonise the energy sector. It is achieving this by developing a nationwide portfolio of right-sized solar farms in the right places, leveraging the best available technology, delivered in collaboration with local communities and customers. Lodestone Energy aims to contribute a substantial amount of solar production to the country’s electricity market and be a leader in bringing solar-based energy solutions to customers. Learn more at www.lodestoneenergy.co.nz.

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