Genesis, FRV buy Canterbury solar site to power 10,000 homes

Genesis Energy and developer FRV Australia will spend $70 million developing a fully-consented, large-scale solar site near Lauriston on the Canterbury Plains.

The site is expected to start generating electricity next year.

The 90-hectare site will hold about 80,000 solar panels with a capacity of 52 megawatts and will generate around 80 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable electricity annually - enough to power close to 10,000 houses.

The project is expected to create more than 50 jobs during the construction phase and employ up to three fulltime staff when operational.

The site was purchased from United Kingdom-based Hive Energy.

Development costs and ownership of the asset will be shared with Genesis taking up 60 per cent, and FRV 40 per cent.

It is among the most advanced large-scale solar generation sites in the country, being fully consented, with advanced grid connection approvals and ready for panel installation to begin, Genesis said.

Genesis, which owns the coal and gas-fired Huntly Power Station, announced its intention to look at solar generation in March, 2021.

Interim chief executive Tracey Hickman said to have a significant site up and running so quickly under the joint venture underlined the company’s commitment to renewable generation.

“This is another milestone for our Future-gen strategy that is focused on developing 2,650 GWh of new renewable generation by 2030,” Hickman said in a statement.

“Solar is a good addition to New Zealand’s generation mix and when it reaches scale it will play an important role in helping manage dry year risk when hydro levels are low and the wind doesn’t blow,” Hickman said.

FRV Australia is one of the largest solar developers, asset owners and renewable energy platforms and the first company to deliver a project-financed, large-scale solar farm in Australia.

FRV Australia chief executive Carlo Frigerio said the site ticked a lot of boxes and should be up and running relatively quickly.

“FRV Australia and Genesis have developed a very promising pipeline of solar projects expected to be delivered in the coming years. Lauriston solar farm complements our own pipeline and is poised to be the first large-scale solar farm reaching operational stage in the country,” Frigerio said.

Site developer Hive Energy has 200 ongoing green projects across 20 countries, with more than £1.3 billion ($NZ2.48b) of capital deployed to date.

The Hive Energy Group specialises in the construction and operation of large-scale renewable energy projects.

“This is the first project sale for Hive in New Zealand, and we hope that, once complete, the Lauriston solar park will support the country’s green energy transition and diversify the generation mix,” Giles Redpath, CEO of Hive Energy, said.

The solar farm will be connected to EA Networks’ Lauriston zone substation.

EA Networks is a locally-owned co-operative network company, which owns and operates Mid Canterbury’s electricity distribution network.

The solar farm design specifically allows dual use of the land. It will produce the equivalent to about 13 per cent of Electricity Ashburton’s annual energy needs from using just 0.03 per cent of the land.

Sheep will still be able to graze under the panels, it said.