Lightyears breaks ground on first Mori solar farm joint venture
The start of construction was marked with a site blessing and sod-turning ceremony on 24 September, bringing together representatives from Lightyears,
Mori investment entities, local landowners, and project partners.
The project will include approximately 24,000 solar modules across 32 hectares and is expected to generate around 23.5 GWh per annum, enough to powerapproximately 3,300 homes each year.
The development represents a significant co-investment in renewable energy, providing participating Mori investment entities with the opportunity to invest directly in a long-term infrastructure asset in the central North Island.
Once operational, Te Aho o te R Solar Farm will form part of Lightyearsʼ growing portfolio of distributed solar assets across New Zealand, adding new renewable generation capacity to the central North Island.
Lightyears Director and Co-founder Matt Shanks says: “Since our first conversation with the landowners several years ago, weʼve been working on a joint venture structure that can support investment from multiple Mori investment trusts. One of our objectives when starting the business was to make it easy to invest in solar in NZ. Weʼre really pleased to have got to this point and to enable this co-investment alongside our Lightyears platform.”
The solar farm is expected to be completed by July 2027