Queensland cattle farm goes solar, cuts grid power consumption in half

Major beef producer and exporter, Teys Australia, will save upwards of $77,000 a year and cut its grid power consumption in half, through a combination of solar generation and energy efficiency upgrades.
The energy overhaul at the company’s 30,000 head commercial feedlot, located near near Condamine on Queensland’s Darling Downs, was conducted as part of the Queensland government-funded Energy Savers Program.
The program – a collaboration between regional grid operator Ergon Energy and the Queensland Farmers Federation – aims to cut energy costs for the state’s agribusiness sector.
After a detailed energy audit by Energetics, a 300kW roof and ground-mounted PV system was settled on, and installed by Solgen and ERM Power.
The PV, which was fully commissioned over the past couple of months, now provides up to half of the feedlot’s electricity needs and will reduce its peak demand from the grid by 30 per cent, according to Beef Central.
“The solar farm has been a huge win for our facility, and the local community,” said Teys Condamine feedlot general manager Phillip Lambert. “It’s allowed us to reduce grid electricity by 50 per cent and carbon emissions by a similar amount.
“We have also been successful in reducing energy consumption of lighting and process heating off the back of the Energy Savers program,” he said.
On top of the solar, Energetics made a further 12 recommendations to cut the feedlot’s energy use and operating costs, and so far Teys has adopted six of them.
According to the Queensland Farmer’s Federation website, of the energy-saving recommendations that were implemented, a total annual energy cost saving of more than $77,000 is expected to result, with a payback period of under three years.
Around $72,000 of extra annual savings may be available through a tariff change, the website said.