Lodestone locks in finance for NZ solar farm

Lodestone Energy and network operator Centralines have locked in funding for the $41.4 million (NZD 50 million) Central Hawke’s Bay Solar Farm being developed on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, putting them on track to begin construction.

The 31.5 MWdc project, a 50:50 joint venture between Lodestone and Centralines, is being developed across a 34-hectare site at Central Hawke’s Bay. The solar farm will comprise about 49,000 640 W solar panels from supplier Trina Solar and when complete will generate approximately 50 GWh of renewable electricity each year – enough to power approximately 7,000 homes in the region.

Lodestone said preliminary works are already under way at the Hawke’s Bay’s site with construction proper set to begin in the coming months. The solar farm is scheduled to commence operations in late 2027.

Centralines said once operational, the facility will feed electricity directly into its local distribution network, adding that the embedded generation is expected to improve network efficiency and support a more resilient electricity system for the Central Hawke’s Bay region.

Auckland-based Lodestone’s construction arm, will lead the engineering, procurement and construction of the solar farm.

The Central Hawke’s Bay project is Lodestone’s sixth solar farm project in New Zealand, having switched on its first grid-scale PV power plants at Kaitaia and Edgecumbe in 2023.

This latest milestone comes after Lodestone recently secured provisional approval under the New Zealand government’s fast-track consenting regime for the 220 MW Haldon Solar Farm being developed across a 340 ha site in the South Island high country.

Lodestone said after a thorough examination of the Haldon Solar Farm’s environmental, ecological, engineering and planning matters, the project has been granted provisional approval from the Fast-track panel. The draft decision is now subject to the final stages of the Fast-track Approvals Act process before a final decision is issued.