Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Electricity generation |
Founded | 2019 |
Headquarters | New Zealand |
Key people | Gary Holden |
Website | lodestoneenergy |
Lodestone Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation company that specialises in the construction and operation of photovoltaic power stations. As of April 2024, it operates one solar farm, with two more under construction.
In May 2021, the company announced plans for five solar power stations, capable of generating one percent of New Zealand's power. [1] [2] In June 2022, it completed a $300 million capital raise to fund its initial projects. [3] Investors in the company included Rod Drury, Sam Morgan, and Stephen Tindall. [4]
In July 2023, Lodestone Energy was granted a NZ$15 million working capital facility by Green Investment Finance to fund its solar farm developments. [5] [6] In October 2023, it announced a partnership with British joint venture HES Aotearoa to develop a further nine solar farms. [7] In January 2024, the company announced plans to build three solar farms in Canterbury as part of the partnership. [8] In April 2024, it completed a $55 million capital raise to fund further expansion. [9]
Construction of the company's first solar farm, Kohirā, began in early 2023 and was completed in February 2024. [10] In September 2023, Lodestone Energy signed a long-term supply contract with The Warehouse Group to supply their retail stores with electricity. [11] [12]
Name | Type | Location | Capacity (MW) | Annual generation (average GWh) | Commissioned |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kohirā | Solar | Kaitaia, Northland | 32 | 55 | 2024 |
Name | Type | Location | Projected capacity (MW) | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Clandeboye | Solar | Clandeboye, Canterbury | Consented [13] | |
Dunsandel | Solar | Dunsandel, Canterbury | Consented [13] | |
Lodestone One | Solar | Dargaville, Northland | 60 | Proposed |
Lodestone Five | Solar | Whitianga, Waikato | Proposed | |
Mount Somers | Solar | Mount Somers, Canterbury | Consented [13] | |
Rangitaiki | Solar | Edgecumbe, Bay of Plenty | 32 | Under construction |
Te Herenga o Te Rā | Solar | Waiotahe, Bay of Plenty | 30 | Under construction [14] |
Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and is the fourth largest retailer, with 14 percent of market share in terms of customers as of December 2015.
Maxwell Robert Bradford is a former New Zealand politician and cabinet minister. He was an MP for the National Party from 1990 to 2002. He is best known for introducing the "Bright Future" economic initiative in 1999, and for changes to the retail sector of the electricity industry in 1998.
Stuff Ltd is a privately held news media company operating in New Zealand. It operates Stuff, the country's largest news website, and owns nine daily newspapers, including New Zealand's second and third-highest circulation daily newspapers, The Post and The Press, and the highest circulation weekly, Sunday Star-Times. Magazines published include TV Guide, New Zealand's top-selling weekly magazine. Stuff also owns social media network Neighbourly.
Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity, natural gas, broadband and LPG.
The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto Group (79.36%) and the Sumitomo Group (20.64%), via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited.
Wind power constitutes a small but growing proportion of New Zealand's electricity. As of December 2020, wind power accounts for 690 MW of installed capacity and over 5 percent of electricity generated in the country.
The Harapaki Wind Farm is a wind farm project in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. Construction began in June 2021 and is expected to continue for three years.
The Cobb Power Station is a hydroelectric facility on the Cobb River, in the Tasman District of New Zealand. The power station is located in Upper Tākaka, 112 km (70 mi) northwest of Nelson. Annual generation is approximately 190 gigawatt-hours (680 TJ). The initial stages of the construction of the station began as a privately-funded scheme in 1935, but the investor failed to raise the necessary capital. The national government took over building the station and the first power was produced in 1944, operating as a run-of-river station. A storage dam was completed in 1954. The resulting hydro lake is the highest in the country and at 596 m (1,955 ft), the station has New Zealand's highest hydraulic head of any power station.
WEL Networks Limited is an electricity distribution company, serving the northern and central Waikato region of New Zealand. WEL is the sixth largest electricity distribution company in New Zealand, with 100,142 connections and 7,021 km (4,363 mi) of lines and underground cables. The company is 100% owned by the WEL Energy Trust.
Approximately 44% of primary energy is from renewable energy sources in New Zealand. Approximately 87% of electricity comes from renewable energy, primarily hydropower and geothermal power.
Solar power in New Zealand is increasing in capacity, despite no government subsidies or interventions being available. As of the end of February 2024, New Zealand has 400 MW of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) solar power installed, of which 130 MW (33%) was installed in the last 12 months. In the 12 months to December 2023, 372 gigawatt-hours of electricity was estimated to have been generated by grid-connected solar, 0.85% of all electricity generated in the country.
The Castle Hill Wind Farm is a proposed wind farm being developed by Genesis Energy. It will have up to 286 wind turbines with potential output of up to 858 MW, depending on what model(s) of wind turbines are selected. The project is estimated to cost more than $1.6 billion and will be New Zealand's largest wind farm.
Renewable energy in the Cook Islands is primarily provided by solar energy and biomass. Since 2011 the Cook Islands has embarked on a programme of renewable energy development to improve its energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with an initial goal of reaching 50% renewable electricity by 2015, and 100% by 2020. The programme has been assisted by the governments of Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, and the Asian Development Bank.
The Pukenui Solar Farm is a photovoltaic power station under construction at Pukenui, near Houhora on the Aupouri Peninsula in the Far North District of New Zealand. The farm will be owned by Far North Solar Farm. When complete the farm will cover 12 hectares and generate 16 MW of electricity. It is expected to be the largest solar farm in the country when complete.
The Tauhei solar farm is a proposed photovoltaic power station in New Zealand. The farm will be constructed near Te Aroha in the Matamata-Piako District by UK-based Harmony Energy, and will generate 147MW when complete.
The Kohirā solar farm is a photovoltaic power station near Kaitaia in the Far North District of New Zealand. The farm is owned by Lodestone Energy. When complete, the farm will generate 55 GWh of electricity a year, with a nameplate capacity of 32 MWp DC and 23 MW AC.
The Maama Mai Solar Farm is a photovoltaic power plant in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga. It was the first renewable power plant in the country. The plant has an output of 1.325MW and produces 1,880 MWh of electricity per annum. The plant's name is Tongan for "let there be light".
The Lauriston Solar Farm is a photovoltaic power station under construction at Lauriston in Canterbury. The farm will be owned by a joint venture between Genesis Energy Limited and FRV Australia. When complete the farm will cover 93 hectares and generate 63 MW of electricity. At the time of its announcement it was expected to be the largest solar farm in the country when complete.
The Rangitaiki Solar Farm is a photovoltaic power station near Edgecumbe in the Whakatāne District of New Zealand. The farm is owned by Lodestone Energy. When complete, the farm will generate 54 GWh a year, with a capacity of 32 MW.