20 February 2020
Solar panels have recently been installed at Rushworth Water Treatment Plant as part of a GVW project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce operating costs.
The panels are being installed as part of GVW’s $5.4m solar panel roll out, where panels will be installed in ten of GVW’s towns, which also include Shepparton, Tongala and Kyabram.
The project involves installation of both ground mounted and roof mounted panels at a select number of GVW facilities across the Goulburn Valley over coming months.
General Manager Planning & Assets, Daniel Hughes, said this work is part of a large-scale project to install over 4,800 high-efficiency solar PV panels on GVW land and infrastructure, resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 4,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year.
"This project is intended to reduce both greenhouse gas emissions, and operating costs associated with energy bills," he said.
The panels installed at Rushworth will produce an average annual energy production of over 40,000 kWh, the equivalent amount of energy required to run the plant.
“It is our intention to neutralise energy consumption at each of the selected sites,” he said.
“The number of panels installed at each of the sites has been determined based on the amount of energy that plant requires to run, and we expect that eventually the operation of these sites will be optimised such that they predominantly function in sunlight hours.”
This roll out project is at about the halfway mark and is being delivered by Solgen Energy Group. It comes at no extra cost to customers.
Customers are encouraged to provide feedback on this project or GVW's services on 1800 45 45 00.
