Marton company says solar farming a money-making option for landowners

Tāmata Hauhā chief executive Blair Jamieson says 10 new staff members are being hired to manage the solar farming branch of the business. Photo/ Bevan Conley

Solar farming is gaining traction as a lucrative and sustainable investment for landowners, but a Federated Farmers spokesperson says it’s a controversial option.

Currently, Marton-based carbon farming business Tāmata Hauhā works with landowners to plant forests that generate profits through the Emissions Trading Scheme, but founder and chief executive Blair Jamieson said solar farming would be far more profitable and it was expanding into that sector.

“They get significantly higher returns than forestry.

“Some landowners are earning between $3000 to $5500 per hectare net per year, and in solar farming the companies want to do long-term deals so that could be a land lease for 30 to 40 years.”

Overseas investors have asked Tāmata Hauhā to develop 1.5 gigawatts of solar farming opportunities, which is 50 times the current national inventory of solar farms.

Jamieson said 10 new staff members would be hired to manage the solar farming branch of the business, but its carbon farming work would continue as normal.

“With solar farms, we can support landowners who have more premium blocks of land, in the right location, with the right amount of sunlight.

“Solar panels can be heightened, so you can continue to farm or produce food underneath them, and we’ve spoken to people overseas who are still growing vegetables, or running sheep in their paddocks, but the solar farming happens above them.”

Federated Farmers’ energy spokesperson Mark Hooper said some farmers had concerns that good-quality land for food production was being converted into solar farming.

“It’s a controversial issue because it’s a good high-value return for farmers looking for a succession plan or exit strategy, but we are aware of a number of proposed solar farm conversions that have gotten strong community pushback.”

Hooper said neighbours often weren’t happy with solar farms in close proximity.

“A lot of people think it’s a bit of an eyesore because it’s industrial looking, they’re worried about what it means in terms of the future value of their property.”

Hooper said solar farming would not expand rampantly, but some estimates indicated 6000 to 12,000 hectares would be needed to meet future renewable energy requirements.

“But alongside other initiatives, such as carbon forestry, it’s contributing towards land use change and loss of future productivity.

“A lot of people that aren’t happy about it are seeing it in a similar vein to carbon forestry - that rather than addressing an energy deficiency, it’s more of a green-washing exercise and companies are using it to offset their corporate carbon footprint at the cost of rural land.”

Jamieson said 90 per cent of the land transactions overseen by the business were third and fourth-generation landowners.

“We’re not suggesting you go over the top of the most productive land, such as kiwifruit, but places around the country with flat land that might be used for cropping or grazing could switch to solar farming.”

For land to be used for solar farming it has to be within 5km of a major connector in the power grid and there may be a limit to the number of solar farms that can be developed due to the ageing power grid.

Jamieson said Tāmata Hauhā was not solely focused on targeting farmland, and the tops of buildings and industries with large power requirements, such as meatworks, could be viable investments.

“If it makes sense for owners on their land block they’ll do it, and at the end of the day we can’t continue as a country burning millions of tons of coal. Currently, we’re burning more coal than we ever have.”

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.