The sod-turning ceremony to get the first solar farm in Tairāwhiti underway took place on Tuesday 11 October at the Gisborne Airport site.

Company representatives joined Mayor, Rehette Stoltz, representatives from mana whenua Ngai Tāwhiri, Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust, Tarust Tairāwhiti, Gisborne Airport, Eastland Network and Gisborne District Council

A karakia at the site was led by Morehu Pewhairangi while Stanley Pardoe, of Ngai Tāwhiri and Eastland Group Chair. Matanuku Mahuika, symbolically turned the first sods of the project.

The project, which will be known as Te Ihi o te Ra, will result in a 5.2 MW solar farm on 6.1 hectares of land in the north-east corner of Gisborne Airport. The expected generation of 7343 MWh of renewable energy per annum is enough to power the equivalent of approximately 1000 typical homes.

When finished, the solar farm will have around 8,000 bi-facial solar panels, contributing to the regional energy capacity and resilience of supply.. Once underway, the solar farm is expected to be completed in about 10 months.

Infratec NZ is the project partner with developer Eastland Group and Eastland Generation.