Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre solar energy installation part of Council Energy Action Plan
Tweed Shire Council has switched on its new 165kW solar panel installation at the Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre (TRAC) in Murwillumbah.
Activated as of the middle of April, the Council says the system will slash the pool’s mains electricity costs by around $42,500 a year and generate equivalent to around 24% of TRAC’s energy requirements.
Advising that Council intends to put its solar savings to good use, Deputy Mayor of Tweed, Chris Cherry stated “(this installation) will allow Council to provide more programs and services for the community through maintaining a vital community resource, which contributes to the health and wellbeing of the Tweed.”
As with all Councils, electricity represents a major expense for Tweed Shire. For the 2016/17 financial year, Council operations consumed an estimated 22,776 MWh of electricity across 390 sites, at a cost of $3.9 million.
The 486 panel system brings this Council’s total installed solar capacity to around 435kW and closer to its goals of generating 25% of its own electricity from renewable sources by 2022, and 50% by 2025 (compared to 2016/2017 electricity consumption).
Advising that the 25% goal will require 921.2kWof rooftop solar installed at 15 Council facilitie, Councillor Cherry added “with this installation, half of the Council buildings targeted for solar have now had panels installed.”
The other installations already in place are:
• Tweed Heads Library and Civic Centre : 20kW
• Murwillumbah Art Gallery: 99.18kW
• Murwillumbah Works Depot and Building C: 91.26kW
• Mech and Elec building, Kingscliff Wastewater Treatment Plant: 9.9kW
• Banora Point Wastewater Treatment Plant: 3kW
• Tyalgum Water Treatment Plant: 6kW
• Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre: 40kW
Funding for the project included $198,202 from the NSW Government’s Stronger Country Communities Fund, which delivers local infrastructure to improve the quality of life of regional NSW.
Click here to view Tweed Shire Council’s Renewable Energy Action Plan.
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