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This summer’s TSB Festival of Lights at Pukekura Park will be the first to shine with zero emissions as New Plymouth District Council switches to cheaper, 100 per cent renewable electricity across its operations.
From Friday, November 1, around half of NPDC’s annual electricity use — 6.2 gigawatt hours, equivalent to that used by 885 average four-person households — will come from the New Plymouth Airport solar farm under a five-year supply agreement with NPDC-owned company Papa Rererangi i Puketapu. The remainder of NPDC’s electricity already comes from renewable sources.
NPDC climate change response lead Greg Stephens says the deal makes both environmental and financial sense.
“Like every household, when electricity prices are rising, we shop around for the best deal,” Greg says. “The airport solar power is a great deal with a 20 per cent saving on the general market rate and it’s cleaner — cutting our direct emissions from our facilities and vehicles by about 10 per cent, or 630 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent each year.”
He says renewable electricity powers much more than council offices.
“As well as keeping the lights on at the Festival of Lights, electricity powers our street and traffic lights, keeps our water and wastewater pumping, charges our electric vehicle fleet, and supports pools, libraries, and venues — including all those summer gigs at the Bowl of Brooklands.”
New Plymouth Airport chief executive David Scott says the solar farm is helping future-proof the airport while contributing to wider community goals.
“Supplying NPDC is a win-win as it secures a buyer for our excess electricity as we bring the solar farm up to full capacity, and it supplies other NPDC facilities with cheaper, greener power,” David says.
The airport solar farm comprises 14,400 solar panels over 15 hectares, funded by a $14 million loan from the Local Government Funding Agency. NPDC was the first organisation to secure a low-interest loan for a solar farm under the LGFA’s Green and Social Loans programme.
In 2023, NPDC adopted the District-wide Emissions Reduction Plan, outlining its actions to cut emissions and contribute to a cleaner, greener future for New Plymouth.
