The Energy Transformation Initiative (ETI) was established in the 2024-34 Long Term Plan to explore how we could save money and meet commitments to reduce emissions through accessing renewable electricity. As part of this, the ETI is looking into the potential for developing our own solar farms. A fundamental requirement of actions arising from the ETI is that they must provide cost savings and thus downward pressure on rates.
We have assessed the potential for installing solar panels on Council buildings, including at Hnry stadium which could host about 600 kW of solar, about a hundred times what fits on a normal house. However, while solar on rooftops meets the criteria of saving money, we don’t have enough rooftop area to meet our growing demand for electricity. Increasing use of electricity, replacing diesel, especially in Metlink buses and trains will mean Greater Wellington’s activities would use roughly the output of 60 MW (about 100 times more than would fit on Hnry Stadium) of solar by 2040. This has been our motivation for looking into developing solar farms in our region – we can potentially secure a large part of these electricity needs, save money and meet our emissions reduction targets.
We reported our preliminary findings from the ETI to Councillors in May 2026. We are currently developing concept designs and costings at several sites to help solidify the business case for two 10MW solar farms for inclusion in the draft 2027-37 Long Term Plan. Our current estimates show that these two solar farms could produce net revenue equivalent to 1% of rates.
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