Major capital raise seeks $450 million to “lead New Zealand’s renewable energy future”

New Zealand energy generator and retailer Contact Energy announced on Monday plans to raise $NZ525 million (just shy of $A450 million) to accelerate its renewable energy development plans.

Contact Energy, one of New Zealand’s largest energy retailers and generators (ie, “gentailers”) with around 500,000 customers, published its first-half 2026 (1H26) earnings this week, with net profits up 44 per cent despite a 5 per cent slip in its revenue.

Net profit for the six months ending 31 December 2025 was $NZ205, up 44 per cent from the $NZ142 million recorded in the same period a year earlier, with revenue of $NZ1.62 billion down from $NZ1.71 billion, and underlying profit of $NZ500 million, up 24 per cent from $NZ404 million.

 The improved operating results were reportedly driven by a “significant lift in renewable generation”, with an output of 97 per cent renewable energy for the six-month period.

Renewable generation was bolstered by the acquisition of Manawa Energy in July which added 27 hydroelectric generation stations to Contact’s energy mix, in addition to 7 geothermal stations.  

Manawa also boasted a grid-scale battery and solar farm, both under development, and a “significant pipeline of future renewable generation.”

Contact Energy also confirmed on Monday that its board had confirmed the company will build the 200-megawatt (MW)/400-megawatt-hour (MWh) Glenbrook battery 2.0, a second phase of the site which already boasts a 100 MW battery, which is expected to go online in March.

The board also confirmed a final investment decision (FID) on the 150 MW Glorit solar farm to be built near Auckland on the Kaipara Coast, which is expected to be online in the third quarter of 2028. The solar farm will be owned by Contact’s 50/50 joint venture with Lightsource BP.

Construction also continues on a handful of other solar, geothermal, and battery projects across New Zealand.

“These projects represent significant milestones in the acceleration of the execution of our Contact31+ strategy to lead New Zealand’s renewable energy future,” said Mike Fuge, Contact Energy CEO.

“We are rapidly deploying solar to meet new summer-weighted demand and, with 300MW of batteries, expect to be able to free up natural gas used in peak demand periods, reallocating this to customers.”

To further advance its execution and a potential upsizing of its renewable energy ambitions, Contact Energy also announced a $NZ525 equity raise which it hopes will accelerate its Contact31+ strategy.

The equity raise will consist of a fully underwritten placement of $NZ450 million as well as a non-underwritten retail offer to raise up to $NZ75 million, with the ability to accept oversubscriptions at the company’s discretion.

A successful capital raise would help to fund pre-FID drilling at the Tauhara 2 geothermal steam station and explore upsizing its capacity from 50 MW to between 60 and 70 MW. Funding will also support the Glenbrook battery 2.0 and the company’s investment in the Glorit solar farm.

Contact Energy also expects proceeds from the capital raise to support its ability to accelerate development pipeline opportunities in line with its Contact31+ strategy.

“Contact is taking significant steps to ensure its readiness to support New Zealand’s growing electricity demand, with 3–5TWh of new grid demand expected in the next five years,” said Fuge.

“We’re investing in the infrastructure required to support a more renewable, resilient and affordable energy future for New Zealand.”

More information on Contact Energy’s equity raise can be found at https://www.contactshareoffer.co.nz/.