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Tweed Shire Council today switched on the Shire’s largest solar array, securing the Tweed’s top spot for solar energy uptake on the NSW North Coast.
Covering the size of a football field, 1,208 high-efficiency solar panels with a capacity of 604 kilowatts are now powering one of Council’s most power-hungry facilities, the Banora Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Cr Chris Cherry said the Banora Point solar array had increased Council’s renewable energy capacity by about 60 percent, with more than 20 Council facilities now host to 1.6 megawatts of solar energy.
“Tweed homeowners, businesses and Council, it’s time to celebrate. We are the top adopters of solar energy on the North Coast of NSW,” Cr Cherry said.
“Nearly 53 percent of Tweed houses now have solar panels. There have been nearly 2,500 commercial solar installations in our Shire to date.
“It’s estimated the roofs of more than 20,000 Tweed homes plus businesses and Council facilities have a combined solar energy capacity of 125 megawatts.
“That’s the highest capacity of any local government area from Port Macquarie north to the Queensland border.
“Congratulations must go to our homeowners and business community for adopting solar energy in such large numbers.
“Solar is a great investment in saving money on electricity bills and makes a vital and effective contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from grid electricity,” she said.
The Banora Point solar array powers the Tweed’s largest wastewater plant, which processes the sewage of 55,000 people from Banora Point, Bilambil Heights, Terranora, Tweed Heads, Tweed Heads South and Tweed Heads West.
It’s the second major energy efficiency project for the plant this year.
In June, Council replaced the plant’s aging blowers and Return Activated Sludge pumps with new high efficiency units.
Cr Cherry said those assets were some of the biggest power consumers at the plant and their replacement had reduced their power consumption by up to 7%.
“Together, these energy efficiency projects are set to cut Council’s greenhouse gas emissions by 747 tonnes a year, saving us at least $140,000 on electricity costs annually,” Cr Cherry said.
“This is great news for our environment and goes a long way towards achieving Council’s Renewable Energy Action Plan goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from our electricity use by 50% by 2025.
"Projects like these not only reduce our carbon emissions, but ultimately benefit ratepayers by saving money on power bills.”
Tweed Shire Council’s water and wastewater facilities are some of its most power-consuming assets.
Historically, the facilities have used about $3.4 million of grid-based electricity a year, which is about two-thirds of Council’s entire power bill.
The cost of installing the solar array at the Banora Point plant was $1,050,000, which will pay for itself in energy savings in about 8 years.
Go to tweed.nsw.gov.au/SustainableOperations to find out more about Council’s Renewable Energy Action Plan.
Through initiatives such as the Banora Point solar array, Council is reducing its impact on the natural environment and responding to climate change.
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