Building on its already impressive amount of PV capacity, more solar panels will soon appear on rooftops at the 311-hectare Darwin International Airport (DIA) site.
A total of 4MW of new solar power capacity is to be added across the rooftops of four businesses at the site – Bunnings, the Cold Store Facility, Osgood South Business Park, the airport terminal and its carparks.
Owned and operated by Airport Development Group (ADG), DIA already has 6 megawatts of PV capacity. Stage 1 (4MW) was made up of 15,000 Q Cells solar panels and became fully operational in 2016. At that point the installation was the largest airside solar farm in the world and was expected to slash Darwin International Airport’s electricity costs by $1.5 million a year.
Stage 2 (1.5MW capacity) was completed the same year and there are also various rooftop solar power systems already installed across the site.
As a result of its PV efforts, DIA scored the Airports Council International’s Asia-Pacific Green Airports Platinum Award for facilities with less than 25 million passengers per annum in 2017 .
The existing PV capacity at Darwin International Airport generated 8,297 megawatt-hours of clean electricity during the 2019/20 financial year, which ADG says was “enough to support 84% of DIA operations, including the terminal.”
Solar Power A “No-Brainer”
ADG also owns and operates Alice Springs Airport (ASA), which has 1MW of solar installed that covered all the airport’s energy requirements last financial year. ASA is another award winner, taking out the Australian Airports Association’s 2014 Major Airport Of The Year award for an early PV project involving the installation of solar panels over part of the long-term carpark that was subsequently extended.
Alice Springs Airport General Manager David Baltic commented a few years ago that solar was a “no-brainer” from a business perspective and a contribution to the community and environment.
The $5M investment in more solar power for Darwin’s airport is comprised of capital investment from ADG and funding from Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. NAIF was provided $5 billion by the Commonwealth Government to issue loans to eligible infrastructure projects across the NT, the northern half of Western Australia and much of Queensland.
Among the criteria for projects to be funded is they must generate public benefit – including outside of what is gained by the project proponent. With solar energy’s green street cred, it helps ticks that box and ADG will be utilising local businesses where it can to undertake works.
“NAIF works with project proponents to help bring a positive impact to local communities and we are pleased to partner with the ADG to help bring these solar arrays to the site,” said NAIF CEO Chris Wade.
This latest project doesn’t mark the end of ADG’s solar power endeavours.
“ADG will continue to invest in solar energy to offset energy costs associated with operating our businesses,” said Executive General Manager Property and Terminal Ross Baynes. “And planning is well underway for additional solar arrays across our sites in Darwin, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek.”
Related: Solar Installers In Darwin | Home Solar Power In The Northern Territory
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