Clarence Valley Council’s Big Solar + Battery Boost

NSW’s Clarence Valley Council’s impressive new solar, battery storage and EV charger installation has been completed and is operational.

The $900,000 project situated at Council’s Rushforth Road Works Depot in South Grafton involved an additional 110kW of rooftop solar capacity, a 200kWh battery system, a 250kVA backup generator, four electric vehicle charging stations and a car park roof structure hosting the extra panels. This added to the existing 100kW of solar panels atop the depot’s administration building that are now also feeding into the battery.

The beefed-up system could play an important role in natural disasters said Mayor Ian Tiley.

“As a vital piece of infrastructure during disasters, the depot can remain fully operational and totally independent if the power grid goes down.”

Aside from emergency response and substantial emissions reduction, it should save Council a big chunk of change on its energy costs to boot. With 210kW of solar panels on the depot’s rooftops, a system of that capacity installed in South Grafton can be expected to generate around 330,000 kWh of electricity annually.

Supported By Bushfire Recovery Fund

The upgrade was funded in part with $500,000 contributed by the federal and state governments via the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) Fund. The Clarence Valley was one of the hard-hit areas in New South Wales during the 2019-20 bushfire crisis. During that event, 168 homes were lost and many more damaged.

Even prior to the Black Summer bushfires, Council recognised the threat posed to its region by climate change. In July 2019, it adopted a policy acknowledging a climate emergency was occurring and that climate change will impact both current and future generations of  residents and the natural/built environment of the Clarence Valley for the foreseeable future.

The Clarence Valley LGA is situated in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales; around 600 kilometres north of Sydney’s CBD and 300 kilometres south of Brisbane’s. Covering an area of 10,441 square kilometres, the region is home to more than 54,000 people and several national parks are within its borders. The local government area draws its name from the Clarence River, which flows through most of it.

Solar Energy Uptake In Clarence Valley LGA

With the depot project included, Council has installed solar panels on 42 of its buildings for a total of 1,320 kW generating capacity – and seven systems have battery storage. Last year, Council was also looking into the viability of up to a 4.2MW solar farm at the Grafton Regional Landfill & Resource Recovery Facility; but it’s not clear what the outcome of that was.

The organisation has set a target of 50 per cent of its electricity demand to be met by renewable energy sources before 2030, and a long term goal to reach 100 per cent.

Right across the Clarence Valley LGA, solar PV uptake has been strong. Some statistics as at the end of September this year (Source: APVI):

• Installations: 10,858 (approx. 41.1% of dwellings)
• Estimated installed capacity: 59,035 kW
• Under 10kW: 43,493 kW (installations under 10kW: 10,024)
• 10-100kW: 15,084 kW (installations: 832)
• Over 100kW: 458 kW (installations: 2)