Community comes together to learn more about solar farm project
Centralines GM Isabelle Crawshaw welcoming the community to the event
Over 60 Central Hawke’s Bay residents recently came together at the Centralines Depot in Waipukurau to learn more about the Central Hawke’s Bay Solar Farm project.
The community information evening, held on 23 September, gave local people the opportunity to hear directly from representatives of Centralines, Lodestone Energy and New Energy about the project, how the solar farm will operate and what to expect as construction progresses.
The solar farm is a 50:50 joint venture between consumer-owned Centralines and Lodestone Energy. The partnership combines Centralines’ local network knowledge, community connections and consumer-ownership model with Lodestone’s specialist experience developing and operating utility-scale solar farms.
It is Centralines’ first solar farm and the first utility-scale solar farm in Central Hawke’s Bay to be delivered through a joint venture model, with the electricity generated feeding directly into the local distribution network.
Key project statistics include:
• Approximately 49,000 solar panels
• About 49.6 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity generated each year
• Enough electricity to power around 7,000 homes
By generating more electricity locally, the project will help strengthen energy resilience, support future growth and retain long-term value within Central Hawke’s Bay.
There was plenty of interest and discussion throughout the evening, with attendees taking the opportunity to ask the project team about everything from the design and operation of the solar farm to construction activity and how locally generated solar energy will connect with the electricity network.
The evening provided a valuable opportunity for the project team to connect directly with the community, answer questions and help build a greater understanding of the project as it moves into the construction phase.
We hope everyone who attended came away feeling well informed about the project and having learned something new about solar energy and what the development will mean for Central Hawke’s Bay.
Centralines and Lodestone Energy would like to thank everyone who joined us for a chat over a cup of tea and a biscuit, and for the positive and constructive conversations throughout the evening.