As construction looms for New Zealand’s largest solar farm near Te Aroha, concerns are being raised about the effectiveness and environmental impact of such large-scale renewable projects.
The Tauhei Solar Farm, backed by UK-based Harmony Energy Limited and New Zealand company Clarus will span 182 hectares—a footprint larger than many rural towns. While touted as a step toward “decarbonization,” critics argue it is yet another example of expensive, inefficient green energy that fails to deliver on its lofty promises.
Supporters claim the farm will generate 280 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, enough to power 35,000 homes, with all energy being sold to Meridian Energy. Developers also tout co-benefits, such as allowing sheep grazing between solar panel rows and the creation of wetlands to support biodiversity. However, sceptics question whether these perceived advantages outweigh the long-term downsides.
Despite the supposed “green” credentials of solar energy, large-scale projects like Tauhei are not without consequences. Environmentalists and rural advocates have raised concerns about:
- Land Use and Habitat Disruption: While the developers claim the site is screened from view and maintains grazing potential, 182 hectares of farmland will be covered in solar panels, fundamentally altering the local ecosystem. Critics point out that such projects reduce available land for food production, particularly at a time of rising global food insecurity.
- Efficiency and Reliability Issues: Solar power is inherently intermittent, producing no energy at night and reduced energy on cloudy days. This means that despite its scale, it is unclear at this stage whether Tauhei’s output will require backup from fossil fuels or hydroelectric reserves.
- Waste and Lifecycle Impact: Solar panels have a limited lifespan—typically around 25-30 years—raising questions about waste disposal and the long-term sustainability of the industry. Many solar farms worldwide struggle with managing expired panels, which contain toxic materials that are difficult to recycle.
Mass-scale panels on prime farmland shouldn’t ever be approved. As well as being blots on beautiful countryside, it reduces food supply. Put solar on brownfields, car parks and roofs instead.pic.twitter.com/8j9MrRQfvk
— No Farmers, No Food (@NoFarmsNoFoods) January 6, 2025
We can produce as much energy on 430 acres of land using nuclear power as you can on 130,000 acres of solar or 250,000 acres of wind.
Why doesn’t anyone talk about the ecological cost of wind and solar?
Also nuclear plants last 60-80yrs vs 20-30yrs for wind and solar farms. pic.twitter.com/ByvexYOezh
— Wolf 🐺 (@WorldByWolf) January 31, 2025
Mass-scale solar panels on prime farmland soil: Impact assessment report (Welsh government in 2023):
“It can take many years for soils to recover from compaction and compaction may be permanent. Runoff from panels can result in rivulets, which can lead to soil loss by erosion.” pic.twitter.com/hx72Wu1EIa
— No Farmers, No Food (@NoFarmsNoFoods) December 8, 2024
Image credit: Benoit Deschasaux
I watched a video about one of these In the states get hit by a hail storm and the solar panels leached poison Into the water table…watch them put this on prime farm land
Yep, the Zionist corporate agenda to buy up good (natural) food producing land from non-corporates to then turn around and intentionally poison it via non eatable completely useless pine tree forests and/or solar panel/wind turbine farms. Also driving (unnatural) food production and control over to the Zionist corporations (Bill Gates et al). Wealth transfer and control in action.
Landfill in 10 years
Blown off of roofs in the recent tornadoes over the last 5 years…
Worlds largest concentrated solar boondoggle is going out of business after just 11 years
It was supposed to last 50 years…
The PR writers want us to believe the legendary Ivanpah has been beaten out by better cheap solar, and that this is somehow a “success”. But the truth is, it’s been killed by the same subsidies and crooked market that birthed it.
The Big Government Blob distorted the free market, and created a boom in solar power. But the business case was not that good, there was no miracle in the storage of electricity, nobody wanted fried birds, and the subsidies kept forcing more solar power generation in at the same useless time of day.
https://joannenova.com.au/2025/02/worlds-largest-concentrated-solar-boondoggle-is-going-out-of-business-after-just-11-years/
Does not really inspire confidence. Clarus is listed as a lighting company on the companies register with quite different directors.
This is globalist agenda. Stop this lunacy.