Investment heavyweight Foresight Group has entered the New Zealand market for the first time with a $500 million commitment to acquire local developer New Zealand Clean Energy and its extended portfolio that includes three ready-to-build solar and BESS projects.
Dannevirke site
Image: Foresight Group
The Australian arm of London-headquartered investment firm Foresight Group has acquired renewable energy development platform New Zealand Clean Energy (NZCE) via its Asia-Pacific energy transition strategy, the Australian Renewable Infrastructure Fund (ARIF).
With an expected total commitment to exceed $500 million (USD 356 million), the funds will aid development and construction during 2026 and 2027 of NZCE’s three late-stage solar projects that total approximately 300 MW.
The ready-to-build solar projects are part of a 2 GW+ solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) NZCE development pipeline across approximately fifteen sites.
Image: Foresight Group
Initial agrivoltaic and BESS projects on the North Island include the 89 MW Masterton and 72 MW Dannevirke projects, located northeast of Wellington by approximately 100 and 200 kilometres, respectively.
The third project on the South Island located approximately 50 kilometres west of Christchurch is the 106 MW Darfield solar and BESS.
A Foresight statemen said the acquisition expands ARIF’s footprint and set of origination opportunities beyond existing wind, hydro and solar assets across the National Electricity Market (NEM) in the east coast of Australia and the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) in Western Australia (WA).
Image: Foresight Group
NZCE Chief Executive Officer Harry Simpson said NZCE has the ambition of building a serious pipeline of solar and storage projects across New Zealand.
“Over the past several years we’ve focused on identifying the right sites and progressing projects through development,” Simpson said.
“Partnering with Foresight allows us to move into the next stage and take advanced projects into construction while continuing to expand the platform.”
ARIF Foresight Executive Director and ARIF Portfolio Manager Daniel Beaver said New Zealand has an exceptional renewable resource base and a supportive policy environment.
“By combining our capital and operational expertise with NZCE’s local knowledge, development expertise and project pipeline, we are well positioned to accelerate the delivery of new renewable energy capacity,” Beaver said.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
More articles from Ev Foley
Please be mindful of our community standards.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *
Website
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.


Δ
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.
By subscribing to our newsletter you’ll be eligible for a 10% discount on magazine subscriptions!
Δ
Legal Notice Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy © pv magazine 2026
pv magazine Australia offers bi-weekly updates of the latest photovoltaics news.
We also offer comprehensive global coverage of the most important solar markets worldwide. Select one or more editions for targeted, up to date information delivered straight to your inbox.
Δ
This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. To find out more, please see our Data Protection Policy. ×
The cookie settings on this website are set to “allow cookies” to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click “Accept” below then you are consenting to this.
Close

source