New Zealand’s biggest solar farm secures finance to go ahead at Christchurch Airport

Leading global renewable energy developer Lightsource BP has secured $NZ267 million in financing for its 168MW Kōwhai Park solar project planned to be built at the Christchurch Airport, which will be – for a time – the largest in the country.

Lightsource BP, along with its joint venture partner Contact Energy, secured the financing package from Westpac New Zealand, Mizuho, China Construction Bank, and Intesa Sanpaolo – IMICIB.

“This project at Kōwhai Park is our first to reach this stage in New Zealand, and we are proud to have developed such strong synergies with our partners Contact and Christchurch Airport as we help progress New Zealand’s decarbonisation,” said Adam Pegg, managing director, Lightsource BP APAC.

“Reaching this point on a project in a new country for the first time is a significant milestone. Through this project, Contact has proven to be a fantastic partner, and we have built a strong relationship. We look forward to working closely together on our future projects.”

Designed as the first phase of Christchurch Airport’s renewable energy precinct, the solar farm is expected to begin construction later this year and begin operations some time in 2026.

Once operational, the Kōwhai Park solar farm will generate over 275GWh per year, equivalent to the annual demand of approximately 36,000 homes.

Christchurch Airport’s Kōwhai Park is being built on 400 hectares of land just beside the airport’s runways.

While the first phase of the project currently consists only of the 168MW solar farm, future plans include onsite solar and battery storage, as well as electric vehicle (EV) charging, vertical farming, hydrogen production, and sustainable aviation fuels production.

“The solar farm will also be our first generation asset in the Canterbury region, increasing our geographical spread across the country,” said Mike Fuge, the Contact Energy CEO.

“This news comes just weeks after our announcement to build grid-scale battery in South Auckland and provides further proof of our investment in renewable energy in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Contact Energy announced on July 1 that it had contracted with Tesla to build a 100MW/200MWh battery – with the potential to expand the capacity of the battery to 130MW.

The joint venture partnership between Lightsource BP and Contact Energy is also targeting a 175MW solar farm in Glorit on the Kaipara Coast northwest of Auckland, and a 160MW solar farm in Taranaki, adjacent to Contact’s Stratford power station.