AWARDS FINALIST: Lodestone Energy – Kohirā: Construction of Kaitaia Solar Farm
Lodestone Energy’s $60 million Kohirā solar farm near Kaitaia has provided important technical and commercial lessons for the rest of the firm’s development pipeline.
The 23.7 MW project, completed in January 2024, was the country’s first utility-scale solar development and the first solar installation to bid into the electricity market. It features a number of value-adding innovations.
The 61,236 bi-facial panels, mounted on two-in-portrait single-axis trackers, increase production by about 15 per cent and also extend morning and evening generation.
The height of the piles provide inherent flood protection in the former wetland, reducing risk and insurance costs, while their wider spacing enables ongoing grazing and an additional income stream for the 82-hectare site near Kaitaia.
And by deliberately over-building the project’s DC capacity – 33.3 MW – Lodestone has made the project ready for installation of a battery system when they become economic. Their installation, on the DC-side of the inverter, will likely make them some of the cheapest in the country, Lodestone says.
Funding
Other innovations included the funding of the project. A debt package was negotiated with Westpac and several other smaller financiers which provided construction funding for Kohirā, but also provided for the progressive funding of each of Lodestone’s next four solar developments.
Kohirā produces about 55 GWh annually and receives revenue from two power purchase agreements with independent retailers, the sale of renewable energy certificates and the first-of-its-kind customer supply agreement. Lodestone’s innovative agreement made with The Warehouse Group, the country’s largest general retailer, sees it buying power from Lodestone’s first three farms for the next 20 years.
Kohirā, initiated in March 2020, has the backing of local iwi Te Rarawa, who gifted the name, and has benefited many local contractors. Construction of the solar farm commenced in December 2022.
Local community
At its peak, the project employed more than 140 installers and technicians, many from the local Kaitaia community, and drew on more than 22 equipment suppliers and service providers.
Major contractors and suppliers included Infratec, Trinasolar, HV Power, New Energy by Drillco, Electronet, Far North Roading and Mainfreight. The system is connected on a new 33 kV line to the Top Energy network.
Lodestone faced a series of challenges, including Covid-19 disruptions and the wettest year ever in Northland during construction in 2023.
Initial installation was slow and alternative methods had to be quickly developed to better suit tricky ground conditions.
Early work on the 33 kV connection also identified scope for significant time and cost savings by opting for a containerised substation design. Built off-site, it suffered no weather delays and didn’t require a building permit.
Lodestone says it launched in New Zealand in 2019 to accelerate renewable energy development, provide more competition for incumbent players and to benefit the communities it builds assets in.
Scoping, financing, designing, and building its first project within three years while starting a business relied on a lot of collaboration across all parties, harnessing international experience, and a lot of ‘out of the box’ thinking.
The Energy Project of the Year category is sponsored by Energy News.