Albury scored the top honour at the NSW 2020 Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns Awards over the weekend – and solar energy played a role.
The city was named overall winner of the Keep Australia Beautiful NSW awards, recognising the efforts across the community in sustainability and environmental initiatives.
AlburyCity also won awards for its organics recovery operations, the Halve Waste education program, infrastructure improvements at the Albury Waste Management Centre and its Renewable Energy Hub, also at the Centre.
About The Renewable Energy Hub
Albury’s landfill gas-to-energy facility was commissioned in December 2013. A 1.1MW facility, it’s capable of generating approximately 9,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually. The facility avoids nearly 54,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from being emitted each year.
In 2019, 4,000 SunPower solar panels were installed at the site, establishing a 1.1 MW (AC) solar farm generating approximately 2,250MWh of renewable electricity each year. This project represented Australia’s first operational reclaimed landfill solar farm.
As well as the emissions reduction, the Albury Renewable Energy Hub saves nearly 25 million litres of water each year compared to equivalent coal-fired electricity generation.
Commenting on the Tidy Towns win, Mayor Kevin Mack said:
“We’re proud to be at the forefront of innovation in the environmental sector as shown by reducing waste, generating renewable power, and recycling all sorts of products from old furniture through to kitchen waste, polystyrene, glass, paper and cardboard.”
The win on the weekend sees Albury in the running for the National Award.
In addition to the Renewable Energy Hub, AlburyCity also has solar installations on various other assets including LibraryMuseum, Albury Airport and the Albury Entertainment Convention Centre. At Albury Airport, 128 x 415W solar panels (53.12kW in total) were added last year to what was an existing 50kW array.
Small-scale Solar Popular In Albury
In Albury, solar panels are also a common sight on homes and businesses. More than 4,908 small-scale systems with a collective capacity of 27,255 kW had been installed in Albury’s postcode area as at January 31, 2021. If you live in the area and are considering putting panels on your rooftop, there are some great solar installers in Albury.
Trivia: AlburyCity was one of 35 local councils to join the first round of the Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership, Australia’s largest local government climate network. Today, the Partnership is made up of 139 councils from across Australia, representing almost 11 million Australians.
About Michael Bloch
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