Port Stanvac oil refinery site to be transformed into 35,000 panel solar farm
It has been almost 20 years since the Port Stanvac oil refinery closed – now part of the land will be transformed into a multi-million dollar solar farm.
South
Don't miss out on the headlines from South . Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Check your council’s rate relief measures
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
SA Water will transform land at the former Port Stanvac oil refinery into a solar farm in a multi-million dollar project.
More than 35,000 panels will be installed on a 14ha section of the Lonsdale land to provide renewable energy to the neighbouring desalination plant.
Construction is expected to start in mid-2020 and will complement solar panels already being installed at the plant.
SA Water would not provide the cost of establishing the solar farm, saying the details were still being finalised.
However, AltEnergy – which provides information on significant clean energy developments – put the cost at just under $18.3 million.
Senior manager of zero cost energy future Nicola Murphy said the solar farm would reduce SA Water’s carbon emissions by 10,710 tonnes per year and generate an average of 21 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity annually.
“During high-production mode, the combined solar generation and battery storage will offset around 50 per cent of the plant’s energy costs, with the facility’s existing hydro-turbines making additional smaller contributions,” Ms Murphy said.
“In times of higher rainfall when the plant operates in a lower production mode, the combined solar generation and battery storage will provide more energy than the facility requires and return the excess to the National Electricity Market.”
Last year, the Sunday Mail reported it cost $88,000 a day to keep the desalination plant operational, with the plant’s total cost reaching $250 million since it was built in 2011.
The 240ha Port Stanvac land has been vacant since it closed in 2003.
The refinery was demolished in 2014.
MORE NEWS
Drive through weddings come to Adelaide
No parking in narrow streets, says beachside council
Citywide 40km/h speed limit proposed for Adelaide’s east
“This piece of land hadn’t actually been used for operational refinery activities, and geotechnical and environmental investigations confirmed it is suitable for our solar project,” Ms Murphy said.
As one of the state’s largest single electricity consumers, SA Water’s operations, including the desalination plant, cost $83 million in 2018/19.
“The desalination process requires a significant amount of energy, so putting more focus on our own energy generation will reduce our overall draw on the local electricity grid, allowing us to better manage operating costs,” Ms Murphy said.
“We will still need to draw electricity from the grid, but we’ll offset those costs by storing and selling energy we produce at other times.”