Lismore Council has decided to steam ahead with plans to build the first council- community partnership solar farm project in Australia under the Farming The Sun initiative.
Originally intended to be a large single project, Lismore Community Solar will instead consist of two 99kW solar farms constructed at Goonellabah Sports & Aquatic Centre and East Lismore Sewage Treatment Plant.
The size of the systems would enable RECs/STCs to be claimed up front. This approach will address issues of claiming the REC’s each year under the Large Scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET).
To fund the construction, a community investor loan is envisaged rather than power purchase arrangement (PPA). According to Council documents, this will provide a simpler legal structure and financial model.
Council’s approval will now allow the financial and business model of the project to be finalised, then mutually agreeable terms for the community loan can be settled. This will form the legally-binding terms of the project to be submitted to Council at the March/April 2015 Council meeting for a decision.
Lismore Council has also set itself the challenge of becoming 100% self-sufficient in electricity from renewable resources by 2023. At the same meeting on Tuesday night, Lismore Council’s Renewable Energy Master Plan (REMP) was presented and approved. The Plan is the result of the largest community consultation in Council’s 134-year history.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy priorities for Council to achieve its renewable energy goals consist of:
- aggressive energy efficiency: to firstly reduce consumption
- installation of solar panels – behind the meter
- installation of solar hot water
- large scale solar – utility scale.
Council is already making significant progress on the energy efficiency and solar hot water front. Recent upgrades at two sites will save an estimated $20,000 per annum in power costs. The upgrades consisted of LED lighting, a Sterile-Aire UV air-conditioner treatment system and a heat reflective paint applied to the Corporate Centre building. At its CBD building, Council installed a new, efficient air-conditioning system.
Earlier in the year, Lismore’s public swimming pools were retrofitted with LED lighting, plus solar hot water and variable speed drives on the pool pumps. These improvements will save Council approximately $124,000 each year on electricity costs.
Solar hot water systems have also been installed at Council’s Corporate Centre, Mechanical Works Depot, Water and Wastewater Works Depot, East Lismore Sewage Treatment office and laboratory, Lismore Recycling & Recovery Centre, Blakebrook Quarry, Gilchrist Oval in Caniaba and Balzer Oval.
