Adelaide-based Tindo, Australia’s only maker of solar panels has entered an agreement with the Bowen Pipeline Company (BPC) to supply 30 MW of solar panels for a 182 kilometre underground water pipeline in 2026 and 2027.
The Bowen Water Pipeline (BWP) project will utilise of 52,174 Tindo 575 W ‘Walara’ n-type utility panels to power the pumps and other machinery, and help enable the BWP to adopt a net zero status.
Tindo Chief Executive Officer Richard Petterson said Tindo’s inclusion in the BWP project was a vindication of the company’s commitment to quality.
“This is a real compliment to our 60 employees who make the highest quality panel in Australia. It’s a vote of confidence in Australian manufacturing,” Petterson said.
Image: Bowen Pipeline Company
Petterson added Tindo was happy to be included in a project that boosted domestic agriculture, supported growth and jobs in regional Australia and used Australian suppliers wherever it could.
“We’ve argued for a number of years that cheap imports come with a cost that is never counted, and that’s the carbon miles of the imported goods and the jobs that are not created in Australia,” Petterson said.
“The Bowen Pipeline Company is mindful of this issue and they’ll be extruding their own pipeline onsite and using Australian suppliers for the project, including Tindo for the solar panels. Bowen Water Pipeline brings together farmers, indigenous landowners and business interests in a privately-owned water infrastructure project. We are proud to be a part of it.”
Tindo’s panels recently topped the CHOICE survey of 15 solar panels available in the Australian market. The CHOICE power output test revealed the 410W Tindo panel delivered 417W, while the other solar panels in the review produced less than the manufacturer’s claimed output.
“We make a panel that can withstand the Australian climate because a panel must have a long life to be able to abate the CO2 that was used making and shipping the product, and we believe Tindo is a great fit with the goals of the Bowen Water Pipeline,” Petterson said.
Bowen Pipeline Company Director Sean Brown said it is a goal fulfilled to utilise Australian-made solar panels on the project.
“The Bowen Water Pipeline is an ambitious project that builds economic growth in Australia and we want to use Australian expertise and equipment wherever we can,” Brown said.
BWP will bring water from the Burdekin River at Home Hill, southeast to Bowen where it will be used by the horticulture and agriculture industries, and by emerging green energy projects including biodiesel, sustainable aviation fuel and ammonia.
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