Lodestone Energy’s massive solar farm in Gill Rd, a few kilometres from the centre of town, officially switches on today to provide power for the national grid.
Kaitāia is the first of Lodestone Energy’s solar farms and its $300 million solar farm portfolio will include Edgecumbe, Waiotahe, Whitianga and Dargaville sites.
Sheep can graze beneath and between the solar panels, which are at least 2m off the ground.
The Kaitāia farm has more than 61,000 solar panels supported by more than 6500 piles across an expansive area spanning 64ha on an 80ha property. The site has an AC capacity of 23.7MW and is expected to produce about 56GWh annually, which is enough energy to power more than 7770 households.
Lodestone said to ensure smooth operations, six inverters had been installed on site, optimising the conversion and distribution of electricity.
“This farm is designed to continue to be generating electricity for more than 35 years.”
Lodestone worked with Infratec and New Energy on the Gill Rd farm with big input from Te Rarawa, and Lodestone general manager of construction Jake Ighile said the collaboration had worked well.
Ighile said some crops could also be grown under the panels, making full use of the land.
“This will be a major asset for the Far North and New Zealand as a whole,” he said.
Ighile said one of the most positive things about the project was the good relationships with residents, groups and organisations, with most staff on the site from the Far North, while Te Rarawa, too, played a big part in the development. Te Rarawa was also growing and planting about 40,000 trees at the site.
He said the Gill Rd solar farm, and others the company was building, would give Kiwis an alternative power option and play a key role in meeting the country’s zero-carbon goals.
Some of the roughly 61ha of solar panels on Lodestone’s huge Kaitāia solar farm, which has started supplying power to the national grid.
The Gill Rd location was chosen for its “ideal combination” of sunlight hours, ease of connecting to the power network, and ability to achieve a low-impact design.
According to Niwa figures, Kaitāia gets more than 2000 hours of sunshine a year.
That’s more than other areas of Northland apart from the Aupōuri Peninsula, but less than East Cape, Nelson or Blenheim.
Construction of the farm started in December 2022 and was completed last December.
A team of more than 80 construction staff worked to bring this project to fruition, with many from the local community.
In conjunction with the local iwi Te Rarawa, Lodestone Energy planted 7ha of native reforestation, which will reduce the visual impacts of the solar farm. There is little or no audible impact on neighbours because the only moving parts are the panels when they are tracking the sun.
The company said the design for the farm aimed to maximise the combined production of electricity and agricultural products.
The solar panels have been installed at least 2ms above ground, allowing for livestock and lower-density shading on vegetation beneath.
It said leaving larger spacing (9-11m pitch) between the rows of panels meant more room for machinery, and light diffusing to arable land.
“By optimising agricultural activities this farm is expected to maintain up to 80 per cent of existing productive capacity.”
