The Barossa Valley has turned on the largest winery solar panel installation in Australia.
The Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) vineyard production complex has about 6,000 solar panels installed, which will provide more than 5,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, or enough to power about 900 households.
Additionally, it means that well-known South Australian wine companies like Penfolds, Wynns, and Pepperjack will be on schedule to achieve TWE’s goal of making wines using only renewable electricity by the end of 2024.
According to TWE’s chief supply and sustainability officer, Kerrin Petty, solar panels have also been put at the company’s other Barossa Valley wineries, packaging plants, and vineyards.
“We’ve put the panels on rooftops and in the car parks to keep energy accessible for electronic vehicles as we move forward,” Mr Petty said.
“We didn’t have to buy any extra land, [as] because the virtues of being a big agricultural company — having lots of space, facilities, and roof tops — we’ve been able to utilise a lot of the existing infrastructure and land.
“Electricity prices are increasing, and this is becoming a more and more important mechanism for us to offset those costs.
“A majority of our carbon is generated through electricity usage, so as we work towards being net zero by 2030, it made a lot of sense to expedite our efforts into electricity offsets.”
According to Barossa Australia’s chief executive, Scott Hazeldine, achieving net zero carbon emissions needed sincere effort and dedication from winemakers and grape growers.
The Australian Wine Research Institute, Wine Australia, and Australian Grape and Wine have joined forces to create the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia programme, which aims to assist grape producers and winemakers in enhancing sustainability in their vineyards and wineries.
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