New Zealand-owned developer Lightyears is awash with cash, after landing a $NZ174 million ($A139 million) finance deal to pull together 28 solar and battery projects over the next five years.
The funding is split into a $NZ74 million equity investment from Japan’s Obayashi Corporation and the remaining $100 million as a loan from Australian lender InfraDebt, which refinanced the company’s then-27 megawatt (MW) portfolio last year.
Lightyears specialises in small-scale solar backed by batteries, with seven projects sized between 1 MW and 7 MW now generating a total of 30.7 MW of renewable energy.
The company says it has another roughly 35 MW of projects under construction, as well as a development pipeline of 28 slightly larger projects worth 338 MW.
“This capital gives us a clear runway to deliver power projects up and down the nation. And that level of capital injection allows us to take on more projects concurrently,” says Lightyears managing director Matt Shanks.
“Our aim is to support Kiwis and the renewable energy sector, and we’re confident this will ultimately help lower energy prices for New Zealand people and businesses.”
New Zealand is a priority market for Tokyo-listed construction company Obayashi Corporation, alongside Japan. It will take a 90 per cent stake in a new solar holding company called LYOC1 and invest in stages as each project reaches development milestones.
Infradebt cofounder Chin-Lee Yu says New Zealand “is a market we like”.
The lender has been behind more than 40 distribution-connected renewable projects over the past 13 years and will be the conduit for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation latest $100 million financing package for 16 small-scale solar battery hybrid projects, announced in August.
Lightyears is also offering local investors ways to buy into renewable energy, with eight Māori investor groups providing some of the capital needed to start the 15 MW Te Aho o te Rā solar project next to Lake Taupo, in the centre of the North Island.
Partnerships with Māori tribes are proving one way for Australian developers to make a mark in New Zealand as well.
Last year Mint Renewables, which was co-created by New Zealand infrastructure investor Infratil, signed a strategic partnership with South Island tribe Ngāi Tahu to develop utility renewable energy projects.
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Rachel Williamson
Rachel Williamson is a science and business journalist, who focuses on climate change-related health and environmental issues.
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