Fonterra signs second renewable-power deal with Anza in New Zealand
Fonterra Co-operative Group has contracted electricity from Karioi Solar Farm, a planned utility-scale project in the Ruapehu district of New Zealand’s central North Island. The facility, near Tangiwai, is being developed with a generation capacity of 110MW and is scheduled to connect directly to Transpower’s Tangiwai substation.
Once fully commissioned, Karioi is projected to produce approximately 215,000MWh of zero-emissions electricity each year. The agreement is Fonterra’s second long-term power-purchase agreement with Anza Power, an independent power producer operating in Australia and New Zealand.
The electricity will support Fonterra’s programme to reduce coal and fossil-fuel use across its processing network. Dairy manufacturing activities such as evaporation and spray drying for whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder and protein ingredients require substantial thermal and electrical energy. The cooperative is introducing electrode boilers and mechanical vapour recompression as part of the transition away from coal and natural gas.
The Karioi agreement follows two renewable-energy deals signed by Fonterra in June 2026. Its first agreement with Anza covered electricity from the 42MWdc Somerton Solar project near Rakaia in Canterbury. In the same month, Fonterra signed a separate agreement with NZ Clean Energy linked to a 129MW solar project that includes battery energy storage near its Darfield manufacturing complex.
Together, the three arrangements cover almost 281MW of solar-generation capacity across New Zealand’s North and South islands. The contracts provide Fonterra with long-term access to renewable electricity, while giving project developers contracted revenue arrangements for grid-scale generation and storage investments. Fonterra has said that such agreements provide predictable long-term electricity pricing in a wholesale market supplied largely by hydroelectricity.
Anza Power was established in January 2026 by I Squared Capital, a global infrastructure investment manager. Its activities include developing, owning and operating renewable-generation, battery-storage and flexible gas assets in Australia and New Zealand.
Fonterra’s decarbonisation programme also addresses requirements from multinational food and beverage customers, which increasingly seek verified reductions in Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions from suppliers. The cooperative’s renewable-power agreements cover processing sites at Darfield, Rakaia and Tangiwai, where electricity use contributes to the emissions profile of dairy ingredients exported from New Zealand.
