Treasury Wines Estate (TWE), which produces well-known Australian labels such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Pepperjack, has unveiled a major solar array at its Barossa Winery in South Australia. The 2.6 MW project is spread across a winery rooftop and carport structure and uses nearly 6,000 solar panels. It is expected the system will generate more than 5,500 MWh of solar energy annually.
“Installing solar panels is the most significant contribution we can make to move closer to our ambition of net zero direct emissions,” said Kerrin Petty, TWE’s chief supply and sustainability officer.
“Unveiling the solar system here in the Barossa complements the other systems that are already operational, or scheduled to be completed in the coming year, at our sites in Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, and the U.S.”
“It’s all part of TWE’s broader goal to make wine sustainably.”
TWE is also installing a PV system at its facility in Karadoc in north-west Victoria with the ground-mounted, rooftop and carpark instal comprising about 2,000 solar panels. The company said 75% of the Karadoc system is already operational, with the remainder expected to be completed next week.
The Barossa and Karadoc installations follow other systems already online at TWE wineries in Victoria and South Australia, including including a 1 MW array at Coldstream Hills in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, a 200 kW system at Penfolds in South Australia’s Magill, and a 100 kw Wynns in Coonawarra, South Australia.
The Australian sites are part of a global plan for TWE to produce its wine using 100% renewable energy by the end of 2024, which will include the installation of more than almost 30,000 solar panels worldwide, including 4.5 MW of PV to be installed across its Australian operations.
Wider trends
In California’s Napa Valley, TWE is in the process of installing 13,000 solar panels. Petty said it will be the largest winery solar system in the U.S., generating half of the electricity required for its entire U.S. operation. In addition to its solar installations, TWE will turn its attention to batteries and electric vehicle chargers for fleet, employee and visitor cars to improve its energy efficiency.
TWE’s investment in on-site solar marks a change in the Australian wine industry’s approach to sustainability.
Fellow winemaking giants such as Pernod Ricard and Australian Vintage have previously relied on a combination of on-site solar and power purchase agreements (PPA) to help achieve their net zero plans.
PPAs remain in favour for other Australian beverage producers. Last week Asahi Beverages announced it would source 40,000MWh per year in a deal with Queensland-based Clermont Solar Farm, while Lion-owned XXXX set out similar plans earlier in the year.
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Good to see others catching up with Yalumba that had AGL put 1.4MW on their Barossa wineries nearly a decade ago, after I suggested AGL have a stand at the annual Barossa wine industry event.