Just four submissions were received by the Taupō District Council (TDC) after Todd Generation applied for resource consents to convert an existing 1022ha dairy farm, about 40km from Taupō on State Highway 5, into a solar farm.
The proposed solar farm (opposite the Rangitāiki Tavern) would see the installation of approximately 900,000 ground mounted solar panels, along with equipment needed to send power to the national grid, over three stages, phasing out dairy farm operations at each stage over about five years.
At a meeting held on August 31, the TDC appointed resource consent commissioner Bill Walsey to chair the hearing set down for September 21.
Todd Generation, under its subsidiary Nova Energy, would bankroll the project and in a statement said – subject to a final investment decision to be made after the consenting process – it proposed to “break ground on the 150MW stage 1 in 2023, with operations commencing approximately 18 months later.”
In his submission against the solar farm, controversial diary farmer Allan Crafar said the New Zealand economy would lose 3000 dairy cows and “at least $30,000,000” annually if the consent was granted.
Crafar went on to say that “Chinese solar panels are made using slave labour” and “never, in their useful life, return enough energy to replace the environmental and energy cost of making them”.
He said the panels would be an eyesore and a distraction for drivers and only produced intermittent power.
In its submission, Waka Kotahi said it was neutral towards the resource consent and “the applicant has recognised the potential for this activity to result in sunlight glare and reflectance, which could have an effect on the safety of road users”.
“A preliminary glare assessment has been undertaken, which identified that without mitigation, there is the potential for glare to effect drivers for up to 10 minutes per day at certain times of the year.”
Rotorua/Taupō Federated Farmers spokesperson Colin Guyton said Federated Farmers were “supportive of renewable electricity generation and transmission in general” but were concerned about the loss of productive farmland, “which stems from the current trend of some farmland diversifying into non-food production industries such as carbon farming and renewable electricity”.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand also made a submission but said it would work directly with Todd Generation with regard to site access in case of emergencies.
Officials from the TDC recommended the application be granted, and that the “majority of the adverse effects of the proposal on the environment are appropriately avoided, remedied or mitigated; that there are significant positive effects from the proposal; and on balance, the moderate-adverse rural character and visual effects from the proposed solar project are considered to be acceptable in this instance”.
Todd Generation’s solar farm project is one of a handful of large solar farm projects in the pipeline across the country.
In April, Helios Energy, formed by a group of United States and New Zealand entrepreneurs announced it had been “quietly developing” a series of grid-connected solar farms that would have a combined maximum capacity of 1 gigawatt.
And in June, Lodestone Energy said it had secured $300 million to build five solar farms near Dargaville, Kaitaia, Whakatane, Edgecumbe and Whitianga that could generate 350 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year, or a little under 1% of the country’s power.
