Tyrrell’s Wines has unveiled one of Australia’s first commercial solar power purchase projects as part of a string of environmentally-friendly measures that the winery has introduced.
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The 1350 solar panels were installed by Sunlease (a Solgen Group company) after Tyrrell’s had the dream five years ago to reduce energy production per dozen by 20 per cent.
They didn’t know where to start or if the economic investment would be worth it, so approached Solgen three years ago to get the ball rolling.
Sunlease director David Naismith said that their company had drummed up a business plan eight years ago and that electricity prices were going up and solar prices were going down, making it an attractive option for power supply.
Sunlease then agreed to install the system with no upfront fees, and will now own the 350kw solar array and sell the output at a fixed cost to Tyrrell’s for the next 20 years.
The solar power system is expected to generate approximately 563 megawatt hours each year and produce up to 40 per cent of the total electricity for the vineyard.
Tyrrell’s conducted a review of their procedures as part of an environmental management system to create more energy efficient ways of operating.
The winery has painted their roofs in titanium oxide paint which will halve the temperature, particularly on hot days where it can reach up to 55 degrees inside the buildings.
Forty per cent of production has been moved from glass bottles to “lean and green” bottles which contain 25-28 per cent less glass.
Their spray carts have been upgraded to spray two rows of vines at a time as opposed to one, which has cut fuel usage by 20 per cent.
All winery waste is recycled including skins, stalks and seeds to create fertiliser mulch as well as all paper, cardboard and plastic.
Inefficiencies were also cleaned up in the refrigeration systems, with the refrigeration lines reinsulated and the pumps put in a series with variable speeds which cut power usage by half.
The 15 SMA invertors, which convert the solar energy, were also stored in a recycled shipping container on the property.
Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon officially opened the system on Friday, June 5 and said that Tyrrell’s are sending a message and showing the way in terms of renewable energy.
A fifth-generation Australian family-owned business, Tyrrell’s Wines has pioneered many developments in the wine industry dating back to 1858.
“We are very happy to add another milestone to the Tyrrell’s history book with the installation of the solar power system at the vineyard,” managing director Bruce Tyrrell said.
“Renewable energy is something we feel very strongly about, and we are happy to be able to keep on producing award-winning wines, powered by the sun.”
Mr. Tyrrell said the winery is very proud of the project and that he is hoping others will follow suit.
“We’ve all got to do these little things and if everybody does it, it makes a huge difference,” he said.
Mr. Naismith said that Tyrrell’s has set a benchmark for others in the industry and that now the system has been installed there is “a lot of prospects” for the future of the winery’s energy production.
