Another solar farm is being built in Canterbury, with the latest project to be one of the largest in the country.

Christchurch Airport’s renewable energy precinct, Kōwhai Park, will be built on land just behind the airport’s runways.

The first stage of the park will consist of a solar farm that will span around 300-hectares.

It comes as a 90-hectare site holding approximately 80,000 solar panels is built on the Canterbury Plains.

With around 300,000 solar panels, Kōwhai Park’s solar farm will be among the largest in New Zealand.

Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson says this marks a major milestone for Kōwhai Park which is an important project for Canterbury and New Zealand.

“Kōwhai Park will enable low emissions aviation and help provide the extra green energy New Zealand needs to transition away from fossil fuels.”

The expected 150MW (or 170MWp) array will generate 290 GWh per year, the equivalent to the annual demand of approximately 36,000 homes.

Environment Canterbury chair Peter Scott is pleased 159 hectares of land it leases to Christchurch Airport will become part of Kōwhai Park.

“Many people don’t realise that Environment Canterbury is a significant land owner – it’s exciting to see some of that land being used in an innovative way to provide a large-scale source of renewable energy. This project will make a big difference to Canterbury’s efforts to decarbonise.”