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Power To The People - Go-ahead For Solar Farm
An independent fast-track consenting panel has granted resource consent to build a solar farm in Te Aroha West, in the Hauraki Plains.
The application was granted with conditions, which are in the panel’s decision linked to below.
Harmony Energy applied for resource consent under the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020.
The project will establish and operate a large solar electricity generation farm on 182 hectares of farmland. The farm will house around 330,000 monocrystalline solar panels, which will supply electricity to the national grid.
The total farmland area for the project covers 260 hectares and includes about 30 hectares of wetland and riparian restoration, and boundary planting. The remaining area will be pasture for sheep farming.
The decision comes 70 working days after the application was lodged with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
The EPA is not involved in the decision-making - we provide advice and administrative support for the panel convener, Judge Laurie Newhook, and the expert consenting panels he appoints.
Read more about fast-track consenting
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