MOUNT Gambier will be home to new solar photovoltaic plates at the city’s SA Water site as the organisation embarks on an ambitious goal of achieving a zero cost energy future.
SA Water will invest more than $300m to install 242 gigawatt hours of new solar arrays with 34 megawatt hours of energy storage devices on the utility’s locations across the state.
The Limestone Coast will be included in the roll-out with Mount Gambier earmarked to receive a share of the plates.
SA Water Zero Cost Energy Future senior manager Nicola Murphy said the panels will be installed over the next 12 months, to help neutralise electricity costs which reached nearly $83m in 2018/19.
“We’re delivering initiatives to keep our operations as efficient as possible to help keep customers’ water prices as low and stable as possible,” Ms Murphy said.
“Large operational circuit breakers like this are essential to achieving savings and future price reductions.
“Our water and wastewater treatment and pumping operations provide up to 1.7 million people across South Australia with safe, clean drinking water, every day, but are very energy intensive and make us one of the biggest electricity users in the state.”
The investment in more than 500,000 solar panels across 35 sites will deliver significant positive environmental outcomes, reducing CO2 emissions by more than 89,000 tonnes a year.
