The consented $227 million Ruakākā solar farm, south of Whangārei, would have 250,000 solar panels covering an area of 170 rugby fields, and the site would be capable of producing up to 230 gigawatt hours of electricity per year.
Meridian said work would start in August this year, and the solar farm's annual output would be enough to power around half the homes in Northland.
It said first generation was expected in late 2026, and full generation in early 2027.
The solar farm would be next to Meridian's Ruakākā Battery Energy Storage System, due to be fully operational next month.
"This project is special. Not just because it's our first solar farm in New Zealand, but because it will add so much to the Northland region in terms of energy resilience, and we've seen in recent years how important that is," Meridian chief executive Neal Barclay said.
Meridian had $3 billion in investment planned through to 2030, and planned to commit $1 billion of capital this year.
"As more and more new renewable generation comes online, we'll start to see wholesale power prices come down, which is what we want for Kiwi homes and businesses," Barclay said.
"We have built a really strong in-house construction team that's already capable of delivering two projects at once, so with consents lining up we know we've got what it takes to get these projects built and delivering more clean energy for our system and customers across Aotearoa."
