New Zealand’s first utility-scale solar farm is about to open in Northland. Lucas de Jong went along for an exclusive first look at Lodestone Energy’s Kohira.
On the outskirts of Kaitaia, it’s a sea of black moving in unison with the sun — 61,000 solar panels arranged across 80 hectares. A mammoth construction that marks New Zealand’s first foray into large-scale solar power generation — intending to provide power for around 8000 homes.
“They move 45 degrees in either direction. They start first thing in the morning, pointing East by lunchtime and they're sitting horizontally. By sunset, they're pointing out to the West,” said Nick Murray, Lodestone Energy’s project manager.
“What's neat about these is that they're bi-facial — we've got solar panels on the back as well. So they pick up the bounce light, the diffused light, so we get at least 10% extra on a good day.”
It’s been a mammoth construction project using 90 local contractors.
“Economies of scale are one of the most important things for the project. So 61,000 panels only work if you do them in a really specific sequence,” said Murray.
And it started with 6500 steel piles.
“These extend 3m into the ground, so we're putting one of those in every four minutes for three months.”
“We've got about 300km of cable that takes that to each of the boxes down the end, and then we invert that and connect it to the grid from there.”
According to Lodestone Energy’s CEO Gary Holden, Northland was the perfect place for their first solar farm.
“It has the combination of being short of electricity. Electricity prices are very high in the far North, and it's also one of the country's sunniest places, so bringing together all of those elements is a critical part of these projects,” he said.
Solar panels and shepherding
Under the panels, the land can still be farmed.
“I don't think you get many farms around the country that have this much shade as the ground's drying out in the open areas. The grass retention and the yield that we're getting out underneath the panels is good in the summer,” said solar shepherd Connor Dent.
Two hundred and forty Romney and Dorrset sheep currently call the shady fields of Kohira home, but a variety of agriculture and horticulture will be trialled.
"The main goal is to have that multi-use — that Agri voltaic use of the farm. And keep the grass growth down in summer. We're not mowing this sort of machinery chewing diesel.
"You know, it doesn't build the sustainable characteristic of the farm.”
Kohira comes with a $50 million price tag.
“It's intended to be a long-term investment. That $50 million is building an asset that will run for 35 or 40 years. And, so, it is an investment in the long-term future of that area,” said Holden.
Lodestone Energy has four more solar farms under construction in Northland, the Coromandel, and the Bay of Plenty and seven more farms planned in phase two.
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