Crown-owned green investment firm, New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) has provided $71.7 million (USD 48.7 million) to finance infrastructure and broader development activities required by Auckland-headquartered renewables developer Far North Solar Farm (FNSF).
A set of tripartite deals between NZGIF, FNSF and owner and operator of NZ’s electricity grid, Transpower New Zealand, involve five development sites that could generate around 1,132 MW of new clean electricity or 15% of daytime electricity, allowing more of the power from hydro lakes to be used for evening demand.
Before the ink could dry, FNSF actioned their new-found finance by signing a $22 million works agreement contract with Transpower to build a new substation to enable the proposed 420 MW The Point solar farm 270-kilometres southwest of Christchurch to connect to the grid.
NZGIF chief executive Sarah Minhinnick said the agreement reflects the organisation’s mandate to accelerate investment that decarbonises the country’s economy.
“The connection facility agreement is a tailored solution designed by NZGIF to introduce a new pool of capital to accelerate renewable energy generation in New Zealand,” Minhinnick said.
“We look forward to seeing more private capital driven towards these solar developments.”
FNSF Director Richard Homewood said the ability to access financing within NZ to advance solar developments was an endorsement of the need to develop more renewables.
“Generating more renewable energy is the future of the electricity market in New Zealand and developing new capacity to help enable this is something that we’re proud to be involved in,” Homewood said.
Transpower says its grid-connection agreement with FNSF is the first of many around the country in the shift to electrifying the economy.
Transpower Executive General Manager Customer and External Affairs Raewyn Moss said the agreement is a positive milestone for New Zealand’s energy future.
“Transpower has a significant pipeline of other generation projects that want to connect to the national grid which are critical both for security of supply and the decarbonisation of our economy,” Moss said.
“The ability for a developer to access capital is another critical element of getting renewable energy developments off the ground and NZGIF can play a key role in that going forward.”
New Zealand is targeting 100% renewable electricity by 2030, with 50% of total energy consumption to come from renewable sources by 2035.
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