Anza Power has acquired the 110MWac Karioi and 95MWac Ongaonga solar PV power plants from Helios Energy, adding 205MWac of consented, construction-ready solar capacity across New Zealand’s Ruapehu and Hawke’s Bay regions.
Anza Power is a renewable energy platform backed by global infrastructure investor I Squared Capital, formed in January 2026 with a US$300 million equity commitment through its ISQ Growth Markets Infrastructure Fund II.
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Helios Energy is an Auckland-based utility-scale solar developer, co-founded in 2022 by Andrew Schlichting and Tim Derrick with backing from Google executive Urs Hölzle, and has developed a solar pipeline of close to 1GW across New Zealand.
Neither company disclosed the financial terms of the transaction.
The acquisition builds on Anza Power’s existing New Zealand pipeline, which includes the Somerton Solar Farm in Canterbury.
It also extends a broader push by I Squared Capital into the Australia-New Zealand clean energy market, following the firm’s launch of Anza Power through the acquisition of Japan-headquartered Bison Energy’s Australian and New Zealand project portfolio, which added roughly 1.4GW of solar and 3.4GWh of battery storage capacity across both countries.
The Karioi and Ongaonga acquisition lands as New Zealand’s utility-scale solar sector moves through a period of rapid growth.
Solar generation rose 56.2% year-on-year to a record 242GWh in the second quarter of 2026, according to the country’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, with solar overtaking coal in the national generation mix on a rolling 12-month basis for the first time on record.
Installed solar PV capacity is forecast to triple from 715MW in 2025 to 1,800MW by 2030, according to market research platform Mordor Intelligence.
New Zealand’s largest utility-scale solar projects have moved from development to construction and operation in quick succession over the past year.
Harmony Energy New Zealand and Igneo Infrastructure Partners energised the 202MWp Tauhei solar plant near Te Aroha in July 2026, making it the country’s largest operational solar installation, with all output from its first ten years of operation contracted to the gentailer Meridian Energy.
Nova Energy and Meridian Energy are separately developing the 400MW Te Rahui Solar Farm near Taupō, while Lightsource bp and Contact Energy have reached financial close on the 171MWdc Glorit plant and neared completion on the 168MWdc Kōwhai Park project at Christchurch Airport.
