Solar farm to power New Plymouth Airport?

New Plymouth Airport could soon be powered by a nearby solar farm if the local council goes ahead with the plan.

The solar farm is part of a development planned by Papa Rererangi i Puketapu, the organisation which runs the airport on behalf of the New Plymouth District Council.

According to a report in Stuff, the council’s strategy and operations committee has recommended a lease be granted to the organisation to lease 17 hectares of land on Airport Drive.

Further details of the solar farm are still under wraps but a report before the committee said once it was fully operational it would produce sufficient electricity output to meet the airport’s needs and have surplus to put back into the national grid or direct to other users, Stuff reports.

A number of airports around the country are developing solar farms including Christchurch, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne Airports.