Flinders Uni’s power will be 100 per cent renewable in deal with Simply Energy

The sun already generates 20 per cent of Flinders Uni’s power. A deal will push that to 100 per cent powered by renewables.

Flinders Uni vice-chancellor Colin Stirling at an electric vehicle charging point on campus. Picture: Serena Findlay

Flinders University will save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year through an electricity deal making it 100 per cent powered by renewable energy.

The university already gets 20 per cent of its power from its solar panels but will now purchase the other 80 per cent from renewable energy supplier Simply Energy.

The power will effectively be sourced from the Willogoleche wind farm near Hallett in South Australia’s Mid North.

Flinders vice-chancellor Colin Stirling said the five-year deal would deliver on commitments made in the university’s sustainability plan.

“This agreement will ensure electricity supply at Bedford Park, Tonsley and our regional campuses is sourced exclusively from renewable energy right here in SA, to complement existing solar electricity generated on campus,” he said.

“This announcement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to champion sustainability by working with industry to address real world challenges.

“Climate change is an important area of research at Flinders University and we are showing that we can ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to meaningful change in our energy operations.”

The uni has installed 13 electric vehicle charging stations on its campuses and is transitioning its vehicle fleet to electric vehicles.

It installed a huge solar array above a carpark in 2018, adding to other arrays on buildings and since supplemented by more panels in various locations around the campuses.

Simply Energy is the retail arm of Engie Australia and New Zealand. Another Engie subsidiary runs the Willogoleche wind farm.

The Willogoleche wind farm.

Exact financial details of the contract are confidential but Flinders said it would deliver significant savings.

Over five years as much as 92,000 megawatt hours of energy is expected to be supplied and savings are understood to total hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Engie is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges.

It has sustainability agreements with Ohio State University in the US and the National University of Singapore which extend beyond electricity to energy efficiency, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Engie Asia-Pacific president Paul Maguire said the company’s “raison d’etre” was to accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral economy.

The deal with Flinders positions the company to work with the uni “to investigate further ways to reduce emissions and achieve energy generation and storage targets”.