RenewEconomy
A major Australian wine maker will host one of Australia’s first commercial solar power purchase projects, with the installation of a 350kW PV system for NSW-based company, Tyrrell’s Wines.
Sunlease, a Solgen Group solar leasing company, announced on Tuesday it was nearing completion of the system at Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley vineyard, home to the 5th generation Australian family-owned business.
“Renewable energy is something we feel very strongly about, and we are happy to be able to keep on producing award-winning wines, powered by the sun,” said the winemaker’s CEO, Bruce Tyrrell.
“Through a purchase power agreement with Sunlease, I did not pay any up-front fees for the installation of the system,” Tyrrell said.
“I can also look forward to paying a fixed amount per kWh for the winery’s energy consumption for the next 20 years. In my view, this is a stable opportunity for the business.”
It is the latest of numerous wineries to go solar in Australia. Peter Lehmann Wines recently installed a 125kW solar installation, WA’s watershed last year completed a 149kW solar system on the rooftops of its barrel store and wine warehouse, joining wineries in the Tanundra, and McLaren Vale regions of South Australia; NSW’s Hunter Valley; and the De Bortoli winery near Griffith NSW, which launched its solar 230kW PV generator and 200kW solar thermal hot water system in 2013.
Sunlease will own the 350kW Solgen-built solar array and will sell the output at a fixed cost directly to Tyrrell’s Wines for the term of the agreement.
It is expected to generate around 563MWh each year and offset a significant portion of electricity for the operating infrastructure of the vineyard, saving the company around 26 per cent against the standard utility costs.
“As a group, we continue to pursue opportunities for our customers that make financial sense over the long-term,” said Sunlease Director David Naismith.
“Through Sunlease, we’re investing in on-site solar power generation for our customers so they can purchase power at fixed rates, lower than the grid. The long-term savings potential is enormous.”
The official opening of the Tyrrell’s solar system will be on Friday, 5 June 2015 at the wine maker’s vineyard in Pokolbin, NSW.
This article was first published at RenewEconomy.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
