By Mikayla van Loon
Chirnside Park Shopping Centre has joined the list of centres around Australia to have made the switch to renewable energy, becoming the first GPT Group owned complex to make the transition.
The partnership between GPT, Shell Energy and the Victorian government will improve the building’s energy efficiency by 50 per cent through renewables and the offsetting of emissions.
GPT Group CEO Bob Johnston said the company was very proud to be one of the leaders in taking steps toward a carbon neutral energy space when the hub was launched on Monday 22 August.
“We recognised some time ago that a new energy ecology has emerged and one that moved beyond a simple transaction between big generators and a consumer,” he said.
“This means our buildings can now be a generator, a flexible consumer and a storer of energy or as we are seeing here at Chirnside Park, a smart energy hub.”
Chirnside Park now includes a two megawatt-hour (MWh) battery coupled with a 650 kilowatt (kW) solar array, in addition to a flexible energy consumption program called Loadflex that will enhance the stability of the electricity grid during times of energy supply constraints.
The Smart Energy Hub uses predictive technology that enables electricity demand reductions of up to 70 per cent of peak demand loads, which also assists in lowering the total cost of energy for the centre.
It is estimated that the solar array could save more than 800,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per year which is equivalent to the energy use of around 350 homes.
Energy, Environment and Climate Change minister Lily D’Ambrosio said this was one of the first large scale battery installations to occur at a retail facility in Australia, something the Victorian government was happy to support with a grant of $500,000.
“While this is about creating clean energy, it is also about, of course, the integration of technologies which give you a more efficient use of the energy that is available,” she said.
Ms D’Ambrosio said projects like this contribute to Victoria’s target of reducing the State’s emissions by half by 2030 and net zero by 2050.
This project was one of 109 to be funded through the government’s Business Recovery Energy Efficiency fund, of which 100 have now been completed.
Shell Energy Australia CEO Greg Joiner said to be successful in an initiative of this kind, organisations need to come together to achieve innovation.
“This is the sort of innovation we love to see come to fruition and the energy transition is about getting on and doing stuff and it’s about great collaboration,” he said.
Mr Johnston said the focus now will be to adopt the Smart Energy Hub approach across the entire GPT portfolio where possible to “enhance the resilience of the electricity grid.”
