Big solar plans for NZ as Lightsource bp and Contact join forces

Lightsource bp has signed up a New Zealand partner to its global giga-scale solar plans, inking a deal with local utility Contact Energy to collaborate on a series of grid-scale PV projects between now and 2026.

The details of the deal at this stage are light on, with the ink on the contract barely dry, but the companies told RenewEconomy on Thursday that the partnership was “targeting multiple projects …of at least 50MW in size,” across New Zealand.

Ultimately, the goal is to add up to 380,000 megawatt hours of new solar generating capacity, annually, by 2026, which Contact will be able to purchase via a long term offtake deals, a statement said. There is no mention of battery or other types of storage in the NZ plans, as yet.

Across the ditch, Lightsource bp is working on plans to build out a 2GW portfolio of large-scale solar in Australia by the mid-2020s, as part of its broader global target of 25GW of solar power projects across the world by 2025.

This includes a relatively fresh proposal for a 400MW PV project, plus big battery, 13km south of Goulburn in the NSW Southern Tablelands region, which is at the site design and community consultation phase of development.

For Contact, which is a gen-tailer of gas and electricity in NZ, the solar partnership with Lightsource bp builds on last year’s announcement of a collaboration with local wind consulting firm, Roaring40s, to develop a pipeline of large-scale wind farms in New Zealand.

Contact is also currently developing a 168MW geothermal power station near Taupō, a town near the centre of New Zealand’s North Island.

Contact CEO Mike Fuge said Lightsource bp would bring its “deep solar development expertise and a hugely impressive track record” to the partnership in Aotearoa, where the biggest solar farm in operation is currently just 2.1MW, until construction of a 150MW project being built at Christchurch Airport is completed.

“Our strategy lays out a path for Contact to decarbonise New Zealand, and a critical aspect of this is our commitment to help meet the massive, anticipated demand for renewable electricity,” said Fuge.

“Grid-scale solar generation is a natural fit for New Zealand’s current generation mix and this partnership sees an experienced and highly-regarded New Zealand generator and retailer join forces with our global solar expertise to create cost-competitive and reliable solar power,” said Lightsource bp A-NZ country manager Adam Pegg.

“The technology around grid-scale solar generation has improved significantly and we’re looking forward to bringing these development opportunities to life with the Lightsource bp team.”

The two companies said they expected to announce the details of their first potential development site in the coming months, and were targeting to begin electricity generation by 2024. construction of the projects is expected to create around 500 construction jobs over the next four years.