Friday 15 June 2018

One Step Off The Grid/Sophie Vorrath: Australian smallgoods giant to slash grid consumption with 3.2MW solar system

One step Off The Grid

Australian smallgoods giant to slash grid consumption with 3.2MW solar system
By Sophie Vorrath on June 15, 2018
An aerial view of the Wacol factory rooftops. Image: Supplied

Australia’s largest manufacturer of ham, bacon, salami and deli meats, Primo Smallgoods, is set to begin installation of one of Australia’s largest commercial solar systems – a 3.2MW rooftop array at its processing plant in the Brisbane suburb of Wacol.

The system, which will be installed in partnership with CleanPeak Energy and Todae Solar, covers approximately 75 per cent of the Primo Wacol facility’s roof – around 25,000 square meters – and is expected to cut Primo’s grid power usage by 19 per cent.

This puts among some of the nation’s biggest commercial rooftop solar projects, including the 3MW system installed at Sydney Markets – which is likely to be expanded further – and the 2.5MW planned for the newly renovated South Australian Produce Market, which is being paired with a 4.2MWh Tesla battery pack.
Primo COO Bruce Sabatta, second from left. Image: supplied

The Primo solar system is expected to generate 4,869MWh of power in its first year – the quivalent of powering 20,032 homes for one year.

Primo COO Bruce Sabatta said that on top of slashing the company’s use of expensive grid power, investing in solar was aligned with the 2020 sustainability targets of parent company JBS Australia.

JBS – Australia’s largest meat and food processing company, with five feedlots across Queensland and NSW and 10 processing facilities nation-wide – has undertaken a range of other sustainable practices, from water consumption, biogas recovery, greenhouse gas reduction, and waste recycling.

“As part of the JBS business, Primo has a part to play in the reduction of our environmental impact in Australia,” Sabatta said in comments on Thursday.

“With our new solar panel installation in place, we will use the power generated from the solar panels instead of solely relying on power from the electricity grid.

“We are making significant investments in energy efficiency to lower our carbon footprint and to continue to improve our efficiency leadership position in the industry,” Sabatta said.
Categories Solar Tags commercial solar JBS Australia Primo Todae Solar Theme Businesses
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