Solar energy company Lodestone Energy of New Zealand has secured official consent for 3 new agrivoltaic projects in the country's Canterbury and South Canterbury sites. All 3 facilities will enter construction between 2024 and 2026.
Clandeboye, Mount Somers and Dunsandel locations will host this capacity that Lodestone will develop in partnership with HES Aotearoa (HESA). The latter is a joint venture (JV) between Hive Energy, Ethical Power and Solar South West (see Solar PV Joint Venture Launched For New Zealand).
Lodestone shared that the ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited will partly fund this capacity with a debt facility.
The company does not specify the individual capacity of the projects but says the Dunsandel project will produce 80 GWh/year, thereby increasing the total generation available for the company's customers by an additional 150 GWh/year from these South Island locations.
While the Dunsandel farm will connect via Orion's new Norwood GXP, the other 2 projects will connect to the Alpine Energy and Electricity Ashburton networks.
"In keeping with Lodestone's agrivoltaic approach for all farms, the Dunsandel farm, which recently received consent approval from Selwyn Council, is located on a 100-hectare block leased to Lodestone and will continue to maintain productive farming activity," said Lodestone's General Manager Development Daniel Cunningham. "This combined use of agricultural and solar productivity results in more efficient use of the land and creates new value for the nation."
In November 2023, Lodestone energized the Kaitaia Agrivoltaic Project, calling it the country's 1st utility-scale PV project. Equipped to generate 55 GWh annually, it formed phase 1 of Lodestone's capital program that comprises 5 solar farms (see New Zealand's '1st' Utility Scale Solar Farm Online).
Additionally, its Edgecombe project is nearing completion while the Waiotahe site is currently under construction. New solar farms are in the pipeline under phase I at Whitianga and Dargaville, both of which are scheduled to enter construction this year.
The 3 South Island sites form phase 2 of the program which, Lodestone says, is planned to be larger in scale. Additional sites are expected to be announced in 2024.