Winemaker completes largest solar farm by an Australian beverage producer

One of Australia’s leading winemakers, Casella Family Brands, has inaugurated a 5.7MW solar farm near its Yenda production site in New South Wales, which will power almost a third of the winery.

While the solar farm near its wine-making site in Yenda, in NSW’s Riverina region, was switched on in April, the official inauguration nevertheless marks a significant milestone as the largest solar farm to begin operations in Australia’s beverage and wind industry to date.

The $10 million solar farm consists of 8,730 solar panels from Chinese solar PV manufacturing giant Trina Solar. The Vertex 650-655W bifacial modules are mounted on approximately one hundred TrinaTracker Vanguard 2P trackers and will be capable of generating 11.53GWh of electricity each year – approximately 35 per cent of the power needs of the Yenda facility.

Casella Family Brands, best known for its Yellow Tail wines, used the completion of construction earlier this year to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050.

In addition to the newly operational solar farm – one of Australia’s largest solar power systems directly connected to a privately owned company – Casella Family Brands also invested in a second solar system which will provide clean energy to power the wastewater treatment plant and is capable of generating 890.47 MWh of electricity per year.

“I’m extremely proud to unveil our investment in clean electricity through our two new solar systems,” said John Casella, founder and managing director of Casella Family Brands, speaking in April.

“As well as reducing our footprint, we are making a direct contribution to the Australian wine industry’s GHG emissions reduction goals via the products we make and supply, as we all strive to ensure a sustainable global wine sector.”

“As a family-owned business, we’re committed to playing a role in ensuring the resilience of the Australian wine industry for generations to come. This includes investing in the regions where we operate, supporting our growers during challenging market conditions and making strategic decisions to ensure our business is set up for long-term success.”

The 5.7MW solar farm marks another milestone as the first in the entire Asia Pacific region to fully integrate TrinaTracker’s Vanguard 2P trackers with Trina Solar’s large format low voltage 650-655W modules.

“Trinasolar is proud to support Casella Family Brands on this landmark project together with engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider Next Generation Electrical (NGE),” said Edison Zhou, head of Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands at Trinasolar Asia Pacific.

“Our cutting-edge solar solutions, coupled with innovative tracking technology, have enabled Casella Family Brands to harness the power of the sun on an unprecedented scale.

“This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to driving sustainable development and reshaping the future of renewable energy in Australia.”

Claims by Casella Family Brands and Trina Solar of the solar system’s Australian milestones were confirmed by Sunwiz, Australia’s primary solar & storage market analyst.