{"id":428488,"date":"2026-05-15T05:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428488\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T05:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:47:08","slug":"meridian-gets-consent-for-120mw-bunnythorpe-solar-farm-near-palmerston-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428488\/","title":{"rendered":"Meridian gets consent for 120MW Bunnythorpe solar farm near Palmerston North"},"content":{"rendered":"Guy Waipara, Meridian general manager development, said the Bunnythorpe farm would expand the company\u2019s presence in Manawat\u016b, where it has its Te Apiti and Te Rere Hau wind farms.<\/p>\n
Waipara said solar energy is playing an increasingly important role in New Zealand\u2019s electricity generation.<\/p>\n
The new facility at Bunnythorpe is forecast to create in excess of 100 local construction jobs and up to $50 million of local spend throughout construction.<\/p>\n
The 280ha site is between Ashhurst and Stoney Creek Roads, and is adjacent to Transpower\u2019s Bunnythorpe substation.<\/p>\n
Meridian said the project is subject to a final investment decision by the board, expected in the fourth quarter of 2027.<\/p>\n
It will follow expected final investment decisions for Mt Munro Wind Farm in late 2026 and Te Rere Hau Wind Farm in early 2027.<\/p>\n
Separately, the company\u2019s operating report for April showed there was strong retail sales growth, higher customer demand and rising hydro storage from sizeable water inflows in the month.<\/p>\n
ASX forward electricity prices have declined further, likely a continued reflection of the high levels of investment in new renewable generation and the system security provided by agreements signed for Huntly capacity, the company said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re maintaining good momentum as we move through the second half of the financial year,\u201d chief executive Mike Roan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSignificant rainfall events in the North Island and solid South Island inflows have boosted national hydro storage to close to 120% of average for this time of the year, meaning the country\u2019s electricity system is exceptionally well fuelled as we enter the cooler months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the month to May 11, national hydro storage increased from 106% to 119% of the historical average.<\/p>\n
South Island storage increased to 109% of average and North Island storage increased to 201% of average by May 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
Meridian\u2019s April monthly total inflows were 98% of historical average.<\/p>\n
To date this financial year, total inflows are 121% of historical average, the eighth-highest financial year inflows on record.<\/p>\n
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets, the primary sector and energy. He joined the Herald in 2011.<\/p>\n
Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Guy Waipara, Meridian general manager development, said the Bunnythorpe farm would expand the company\u2019s presence in Manawat\u016b, where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[219618,3269,167840,138,8996,1667,3233,2082,6276,68596,3180,111,139,529,69,6292,19764,312,4166],"class_list":["post-428488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-120mw","tag-build","tag-bunnythorpe","tag-business","tag-consent","tag-energy","tag-farm","tag-for","tag-gets","tag-meridian","tag-near","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-palmerston","tag-received","tag-says","tag-solar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}