Arnott’s Group has teamed with renewable energy infrastructure developer and operator CleanPeak Energy to officially unveil a 5 MW rooftop solar system and an 11 MWh DC battery energy storage system that is now helping to power its biscuit factory at Huntington in western Sydney.
The $12 million (USD 7.85 million) project, funded through the CleanPeak-Igneo joint venture CPERI, features a multi-building rooftop solar installation comprising about 9,000 Longi PV panels that are expected to generate up to 7 GWh of renewable electricity annually. The solar array is integrated with an 11 MWh Sungrow battery energy storage system designed to further reduce reliance on the electricity grid.
Philip Graham, Chief Executive Officer of CleanPeak which led the design and delivery of the project, said it is one of the largest commercial and industrial solar and battery energy storage systems in the country.
“This installation is proof of what is possible in building renewables where they are directly used in the manufacturing process and should be a blueprint for industrial players serious about implementing 100% renewable electricity solutions to lower cost,” he said.
Arnott’s Chief Procurement Officer Tom Vicars said the system, designed to operate fully behind the meter, enhances site efficiency and energy resilience and marks a major milestone in the company’s multi-year agreement with CleanPeak to power the Huntington facility with 100% renewable electricity by 2029.
“By generating nearly one-quarter of our energy needs onsite and progressively sourcing the remainder from CleanPeak’s solar farms, we’re making meaningful progress toward our goal of 100% renewable energy by 2029, for the largest site in our network,” he said.
The 44,000-square-metre Huntington facility operates 24/7, produces about 56 million kilograms of biscuits each year, and requires about 22 GWh of electricity annually.
The new solar and battery system is expected to supply approximately 25% of the site’s electricity needs. The remaining 16.5 GWh will be sourced from CleanPeak’s portfolio of assets and other contracted generation.
CleanPeak currently operates more than 50 distributed generation sites across Australia including more than 40 MW of rooftop solar, 100 MW of utility-scale solar, and 35 MWh of battery energy storage system projects, as well as operating microgrids providing energy and thermal services for more than 1 million square metres of floorspace.
Included among the Sydney-headquartered company’s portfolio of projects is the 40 MW Wangaratta, 15 MW Mugga Lane, and 7.5 MW Moama solar farms.
The company is also in the process of delivering more than $200 million worth of construction projects in the sector which will deliver a further 100 MW of solar and 300 MWh of battery projects.
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