New Zealand’s Lodestone Energy inks nine solar farm partnership with HES Aotearoa

Construction of the first five solar farms is underway.

New Zealand-based solar energy producer Lodestone Energy signs a partnership with British joint venture HES Aotearoa (HESA) for the development of nine new solar farms.

Loadstone announced that construction for five solar farms is ongoing at Kaitaia, Edgecumbe, Waiotahe, Whitianga and Dargaville, in addition to several high-quality locations on both the North and South Islands.

These developments will be part of the nationwide expansion backed by Lodestone’s second major capital raise programme.

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Under the agreement, the solar energy developer had designated Ethical Power New Zealand as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) partner for the solar farms. After construction, the HESA sites are set to operate more than 500 GWh in additional solar generation for the country.

“Through new capital partnerships, including a NZ$250m ($147.9m) debt facility from ANZ, Lodestone will have the funding to support the significant growth of solar generation. The expansion puts us one step closer to bringing grid-scale solar to customers in all regions of Aotearoa New Zealand,” Gary Holden, Managing Director of Lodestone Energy, said about the agreement’s goals.

HESA is a joint venture founded by Hive Energy, Ethical Power and Solar South West.

$1 = NZ$1.69