The Karioi Solar Farm on Stouts Rd is expected to be operating at full power by late 2028. Photo / Anza Power
Two major solar farms are being developed at the foot of Ruapehu Maunga.
The Karioi Solar Farm and Tangiwai Hybrid Solar Farm are separate developments, but will both be situated off the Volcanic Loop Highway, between Waiōuru and Ohakune.
They will feed New Zealand’s electricity grid through Transpower’s Tangiwai substation.
The 110-megawatt (MW) Karioi farm at 7 Turakina Valley Rd and 197, 201 and 202 Stouts Rd is expected to be at full power by late 2028.
Dairy giant Fonterra will take 80% of its electricity under a long-term virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with its operator, private equity-backed Anza Power.
Harmony Energy has not announced a counter-party for its 156MW Tangiwai farm. It signed a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Meridian Energy for its new Waikato solar farm, the country’s biggest.
Horizons Regional Council consents team leader Jasmine Mitchell said neither the Karioi nor Tangiwai farm received council funding.
No consents had been requested for the Tangiwai farm, she said.
Ruapehu District Council granted resource consent for the 207ha Karioi Solar Farm in February 2025.
It was for large-scale land disturbance (earthworks) and discharging cleanfill material into and on to land for the farm’s construction.
The site falls within the rohe of Ngāti Rangi iwi and post-settlement governance entity Te Korowai o Wainuiārua, and is subject to Te Waiū-o-Te-Ika, a legal framework that ensures the Whangaehu River and its tributaries are viewed and managed holistically.
Ngāti Rangi and Te Korowai o Wainuiārua were engaged across numerous hui as the proposal was developed and supported it.
Helios Energy said the selected site had a strong solar resource, flat topography and could not be viewed directly from nearby homes. Native plants would be grown around its boundaries to “further minimise any visual impacts”.
The Karioi farm will be capable of generating 110MW of clean, renewable electricity, equivalent to powering about 25,000 homes a year.
Helios Energy sold the development rights to Anza Power, an Australian and New Zealand energy developer and operator established in January with a US$300 million ($516m) equity commitment from American global infrastructure investor I Squared Capital.
Anza Power develops, owns and operates integrated energy solutions, including renewable generation and battery storage.
It also signed a VPPA with Fonterra for its new Somerton solar farm in Canterbury.
A VPPA is a contract where a power buyer agrees to purchase a project’s energy at a pre-agreed price, acting as a financial hedge against volatile electricity prices.
It said the deal “gives Karioi a strong foundation of contracted offtake”.
Anza Power said the remaining 20% of the Karioi farm’s output will be sold on the wholesale market or through further VPPAs.
The company said the farm would produce energy for 35 years, helping lower electricity prices in the region and providing certainty of supply.
Geotechnical work was underway, with a financial close expected early next year and construction expected to begin in late 2027 and take a year. The total development cost was not shared for commercial reasons.
The site will be leased from its owners, a farming family, and remain grazed by sheep under and around the solar panels.
Anza Power also acquired the 95MW Ongaonga solar farm in Hawke’s Bay from Helios Energy.
Helios Energy said in September both farms were expected to create about 150 jobs during construction.
Developer and operator Harmony Energy New Zealand will install 156MW of solar capacity across its 250ha Tangiwai Hybrid Solar Farm.
Harmony Energy said on its website it will generate enough annual electricity for more than 25,000 homes in the Ruapehu District – despite there being only 7602 in the latest Census.
The 240,000 utility-scale solar modules will use a single-axis tracking system to follow the sun’s movements for efficiency and consistency.
The farm will be supplemented by a DC-coupled hybrid storage system, incorporating a battery energy storage system (Bess) with 120-megawatt-hour (MWh) capacity.
A Bess enables solar farms to store energy from the grid in batteries until needed.
Harmony Energy is developing projects across the North Island, including in Marton and Ōpunake.
The 115ha Marton solar farm is proposed at 122 and 196 Whales Lane and 362 Pukepapa Rd, and will supply energy to the grid through Transpower’s Marton substation with a capacity of about 65MW. Construction is expected to begin this year.
The Chronicle has approached Harmony Energy for comment.
Noam Mānuka Lazarus (Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara) is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle.
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