New Zealand’s biggest solar farm connects to national grid near Te Aroha

Leo McKenzie2026-07-18T00:11:00.000Z

Bout damn time we did something useful with all that paddock space. Hope this brings the power bills down a bit.

Noah Bennett2026-07-18T01:01:00.000Z

down? Mate, I'll believe it when I see it. More likely they'll pocket the profit

Noah Bennett2026-07-18T00:25:00.000Z

Yeah nah, another solar farm. Bet it'll be broken half the time and we're paying for it.

RNZ2026-07-18T01:14:00.000Z

half the time? That's optimistic. Probably cloudy and it produces nothing

Cameron Diaz2026-07-18T00:39:00.000Z

Meanwhile the government is shutting down coal plants and wondering why prices are up. This isn't gonna fix it lmao.

Jordan Bell2026-07-18T00:45:00.000Z

Actually pretty cool! Visited a solar farm on a uni tour last year, the tech is wild. Massive batteries too apparently.

RNZ2026-07-18T01:38:00.000Z

Preach. The grid is held up by duck tape and hope but nah we need another solar farm

Sophie Ngata2026-07-18T01:13:00.000Z

So good to see! My cousin works for Harmony Energy and says the community is really behind it. Great for jobs and the environment

Taylor Wright2026-07-18T02:01:00.000Z

do you think the power for your phone comes from genius? Solar doesn't work at night. Infrastructure still needed.

Chloe Martin2026-07-18T01:29:00.000Z

Can we talk about how this is just a tax write-off for a foreign company? The energy goes to the grid but the profits go offshore. Same old story

Drew Parker2026-07-18T01:43:00.000Z

Honestly I don't mind as long as my lights stay on. At least it's not another dairy farm polluting the river.

Chloe Martin2026-07-18T02:14:00.000Z

'great for jobs' maybe 10 during construction now it's just a field with panels. Get real.

Taylor Wright2026-07-18T01:59:00.000Z

ffs everyone's complaining when we don't do anything and complaining when we do. Up to 20% of the region power is solid. Shut up

Noah Bennett2026-07-18T02:54:00.000Z

lmao facts. Ppl complain about everything. Least this one actually exists now

Quinn Murphy2026-07-18T02:05:00.000Z

Pass by that site every day to work. They've been at it for ages. Hoping it actually works so I can justify the traffic jams getting built

Cameron Diaz2026-07-18T02:51:00.000Z

Exactly. Foreign ownership = money out of NZ. But no one wants to say it cos green energy is sacred

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