Lion puts solar on South Auckland brewery

Lion NZ says rooftop solar at its East Tamaki “The Pride” brewery is expected to be completed this April.

It’s partnering with Meridian Energy, Reid Technology and Solar Vision on the project.

“Being one of the largest rooftop solar arrays in the country, the 2424 panels covering an area of around 5400m2 will be visible from flights into and out of nearby Auckland Airport,” says Lion NZ managing director Craig Baldie.

“At 1.21 megawatts (MW) it’s estimated that solar energy will provide 14.4% of the brewery’s electricity needs per year – equivalent to about 228 average households.

“We are a net carbon zero certified company and committed to the ongoing decarbonisation of our business.

“Brewing is an energy intensive process. At the Pride, our state-of-the-art brewery in East Tamaki where we produce many of New Zealand’s best loved beers such as Steinlager and Speight’s (as well as Mac’s and Kirin Hyoketsu) we can run 160,000 cans and bottles per hour across the four production lines,” says Baldie.

“Since 2019 – our Science Based Targets baseline year – we have reduced Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions at the Pride by 13% per kilolitre of beverage produced.

“By investing in solar, we will increase our reliance on new renewable energy, reduce our carbon emissions further and free up more than a megawatt of demand from the national grid.”

The project got the go-ahead in August last year but The Pride, which opened in 2010, wasn’t designed for rooftop solar so the roof had to be checked to ensure it could carry the 74,000kg structure.

Meridian chief customer officer Lisa Hannifin says energy contributes around 40% of New Zealand’s total gross emissions, “so this switch by Lion will provide lasting sustainability benefits for the wider community”.

The project is being funded through a Power Purchase Agreement with Meridian.