Northern Beaches Council seeks to address growing energy costs of operating Manly Andrew 'Boy' Charlton Aquatic Centre

With the cost of energy consumption at its Manly Andrew 'Boy' Charlton Aquatic Centre rising towards a million dollars a year, Sydney’s Northern Beaches Council has released a ‘Request for Quotation’ for qualified parties to undertake and energy audit and decarbonisation strategy the facility.

Impacted, like many aquatic facility operators and owners, particularly rising costs for gas, the Council advise that its “has committed to achieving net zero emissions in its operations by 2045 and aspires to achieve this by 2030”.

However, it points out that its “largest energy using site is Manly Andrew Boy Charlton Aquatic Centre”, with documents showing that the facility, which was redeveloped in 2016, had total energy usage of $804,520 in the 2021/22 financial year.

Given that 2021/22 included a period of forced Covid shutdown from July to late September 2021, and then limited opening until mid-October, it can be drawn that energy costs in a full

Mindful of the energy usage of the Centre - which includes several heated pools, a gym, café and other facilities - Northern Beaches Council completed an energy audit of the site in 2019 and has since implemented two actions to reduce electricity usage.

These have included the installation of a 265kw solar PV system and variable speed pool pumps. While the 2019 audit did not include opportunities to transition away from gas, the Council secured a 100% renewable electricity power purchase agreement (PPA) in 2021 which significantly reduced its emissions associated with electricity and delivered substantial cost savings.

In its Request for Quotation, the Council advise “it is anticipated that the proposed decarbonisation actions may recommend the replacement of the existing 3 gas boilers and 2 cogeneration (cogen) units”, noting that it “will require assistance from a suitably qualified consultant to prepare the technical specifications for the design works suitable to be included in a Request for Tender”.

Issuing the Request for Quotation (RFQ) on 28th February 2023, Northern Beaches Council is conducting site visits of the Centre on Friday 17th March 2023 with the RFQ closing at 2pm on Thursday 23rd March 2023.

The Council advise that the appointed consultant should commence work within seven days of notice of appointment with work to commence in April.

Those wishing to attend the site visit should register their your attendance by emailing bronwyn.neal@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au by 3pm on Thursday 16th March 2023.