Completed in January 2017, this 100kWp system is part of a pledge by South East Water to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a target established by the Andrews Labor Government in the recently released Water for Victoria plan.
An integral part of the local infrastructure, South East Water manages over $4 billion dollars worth of infrastructure and assets including:
- 24,000km of pipeline
- 81 water pump stations
- 259 sewerage pump stations.
Kevin Hutchings, Managing Director, South East Water: “Reducing our reliance on non-renewable energy at our Frankston office is an important step towards achieving a carbon neutral footprint for our organisation.”
In 2015 a new headquarters was built and opened in Frankston. The new building houses the majority of South East Water’s workforce and is bringing welcome business to the local community. The new building also presented an excellent opportunity to tackle energy consumption and to move towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The high building in such close proximity to the water, the site presented some interesting challenges for the EnviroGroup team.
The main challenge was getting and installing the panels up to the roof. The height of the building required some creative thinking and the team ended up using a goods lift and panels lifters to get the panels up.
The southwesterly winds of the bay meant that panel installation could only be performed on calm days.
In addition to the height and tough weather conditions, getting the panels to fit also required ingenuity in the tight roof space. Before any construction had begun, our in-house engineering and design team created detailed plans for the site to ensure that we got as close to a perfect fit as possible.
Nick Garric, Project head installer: “It was a real balancing act getting the panels installed to the design spec. The location was windy and access was limited, but the team did really well”
Despite the tough conditions the team completed the install on time and on budget.
Being so close to salt water, a maintenance program was also developed which will make sure that the system performs well over its operational life span.
The 384 panels will offset of around 10% of the buildings total energy consumption and as much as a third of the power used at the Waters Edge facility during office hours in the summer months. In addition to the system generating 138,500kWh per year, the system will also offset 170 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
The quality of components used and attention to detail means that South East Water has a system that will deliver worthwhile energy savings and stand the test of time.
