Govt-owned Genesis, Saudis and Canadians building $104m solar farm

A new solar farm near Christchurch set to power 13,000 homes is officially under construction, as Genesis Energy ramps up its renewable energy efforts with the help of a Saudi Arabian investment firm and Canadian pension fund.

The 63 megawatt farm on a 93-hectare site in Lauriston on the Canterbury Plains is the first project in a joint venture between majority Government-owned Genesis and FRV Australia.

FRV is 51 per cent owned by Abdul Lateef Jameel Energy, a division of the Jeddah-based investment company, and 49 per cent owned by the Canadian pension fund and infrastructure investor Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS).

“We are excited by the opportunity to invest in the New Zealand energy sector, alongside Genesis, a like-minded partner, and advance our collective efforts to facilitate a shift to greener and more sustainable infrastructure,” OMERS head of Asia Pacific Christopher Curtain said in an emailed update about the project.

FRV's Sebastopol solar farm in New South Wales generates 90 megawatts to power 40,000 homes.

Genesis has a 40 per cent equity share in the project, worth about $13 million, and had signed an agreement to purchase all of the energy the solar farm generated for a decade from its expected start date in the second quarter of 2025.

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Genesis and FRV teamed up in late 2021 to develop up to 500MW of solar power here over five years - which they say would power 100,000 households or 185,000 electric vehicles per year.

They’re now eyeing three more potential solar farm sites in Northland that would make up 400MW of their target if they followed through.

FRV has seven operational solar farms in Australia, with a handful under development.

FRV and Genesis bought the Canterbury site from United Kingdom developer Hive Energy in December 2022.

It’s now being built by Australian construction company Beon Energy at an expected cost of $104 million.

Genesis and FRV's 93ha site in the Canterbury plains is expected to be filled with solar panels and generating energy by the second quarter of 2025.

The project is being funded by debt from the BNZ and and Japananse bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).

Genesis aimed to produce 95 per cent of its energy from renewable sources - solar, wind and geothermal - by 2035, with net zero emissions by 2040.

“It will enable us to provide cleaner energy to our customers, while also reducing emissions from our generation portfolio,” Genesis Energy chief wholesale officer Tracey Hickman said in an emailed update of the solar farm project.

“The pleasing aspect of this project is it shows the value of our joint venture and that the model we have put in place for Lauriston works.

“It has allowed us to sign quality delivery partners, including our lead contractor, equipment suppliers and lenders.”