New South Wales’ Eurobodalla Shire Council recently sang the praises of residential and commercial solar power – and it has the experience under its belt to do so.
Situated on the far south coast of New South Wales, the local government area of Eurobodalla recorded a population of 37,232 people in the 2016 Census. Its major population centres include Moruya, Batemans Bay and Narooma.
Council sustainability coordinator Mark Shorter recently commented that solar power could be one of the best investments currently available. Many Eurobodalla Shire residents and businesses have already cottoned on to the bill-busting capabilities of solar panels.
“It’s taken 10 years to grow from the installation of Eurobodalla’s first grid-connected installation up to the first 10,000kW of solar,” said Mr. Shorter. “It only took two years for the second 10,000kW to come online – how good would it be to see a third 10,000kW by the end of the year?”
1,377kW of solar power capacity had been installed across the Shire this year as of February.
“We’re in uncertain times but we can rely on electricity bills to keep arriving,” stated Mr. Shorter. “Generating your own solar power remains one of the best ways to cut electricity bills and to do the right thing for the environment.”
Walking The Solar Talk
Eurobodalla Shire Council practices what it preaches on panels. More than 3,000 solar panels have been installed at dozens of its facilities across the shire, including Kianga Sewage Treatment Plant (pictured above). With a collective capacity of 750kW, these systems are providing not only a significant carbon reduction, but also knocking $180,000 a year off Council’s electricity costs.
Council says 20% of its electricity is sourced from renewable energy – but it’s not stopping there. It aims to reduce its operational emissions by 80% from a 2005/06 baseline by 2030 and source 100% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. No doubt we’ll be seeing more solar energy systems rolled out to help it reach that goal.
Other energy related initiatives include the replacing of more than 2,500 street lights with energy efficient LEDs, which has reduced street lighting energy consumption and maintenance. Upgrading to LED technology is saving Council more than $120,000 per year in reduced power and maintenance costs. It’s also harvesting methane from landfill sites, reducing greenhouse gas emissions at these sites by more than 35%.
Eurobodalla Shire Council is one of 123 local governments across Australia part of the Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership.
About Michael Bloch
RSS - Posts
Speak Your Mind