Another Big Shopping Centre Solar Energy Rollout

Logan Hyperdome – post-solar panel makeover

Four major shopping centers in Queensland and one in Victoria are about to get a bunch of solar panels on their rooftops.

A partnership announced yesterday between Energy Queensland’s¹ renewables business Yurika and Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) will initially see a total of 15MW of solar power capacity installed across the following sites:

• Robina Town Centre (Gold Coast)
• Logan Hyperdome (Brisbane)
• Grand Central Shopping Centre (Toowoomba)
• Domain Central (Townsville)
• Watergardens Shopping Centre (Melbourne)

“This partnership will start with the delivery of solar panels, batteries and 24/7 monitoring technology and the ability to add additional renewable options such as electric vehicle charging stations,” said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk

As well as significantly lowering the carbon impact of the shopping centres and “future-proofing” them against energy pricing uncertainty, it will reduce their grid electricity consumption by up to 30% collectively.

Yurika Executive General Manager Carly Irving said the five sites are the first phase of a long-term partnership with QIC; with the potential for Yurika to support QIC in establishing of embedded networks, EV charging services, Virtual Power Plants (VPP) and energy storage.

Townsville’s Domain Central, one Queensland’s largest homemaker, lifestyle and outlet centres, will be the first to benefit from Yurika’s “Smart Connected Solar” approach and is also being assessed for battery storage.

“Following the installation of this solar technology, we expect the Centre to be fully energy self-sustained within three years, providing clean energy to our retail partners and significant relief to the energy network in the surrounding Townsville community,” said QIC GRE Managing Director, Michael O’Brien.

Solar Springing Up On Shopping Centers Everywhere

Shopping centres are a slam-dunk for solar energy given their huge rooftops and electricity consumption profiles. With the cost of commercial solar continuing to decrease, more Australian shopping and retail centres are installing solar panels to slash their energy costs and lighten their carbon footprint, as well as providing cheaper electricity for tenants. In the case of commercial PV, it’s become a case of if a company can afford to pay its electricity bills and has suitable rooftop space, it can afford solar power.

Among relatively recent major retail property group shopping centre solar rollouts have been Stockland (12.1MW) and Vicinity Centres (31.8MW) projects, with more PV in the pipeline for both.