SA Water to build solar farm on former refinery site

SA Water will purchase land at the former ExxonMobil Port Stanvac oil refinery to construct a 35,000-panel solar farm.

The solar photovoltaic panels on the 14-hectare portion of land are set to produce renewable energy for the neighbouring Adelaide Desalination Plant, and contribute to SA Water’s pursuit of a zero cost energy future.

Closed in 2003 and demolished in 2014, the broader 240-hectare oil refinery site at Port Stanvac is undergoing a 10-year program to remediate the site to a standard suitable for future industrial activity.

SA Water’s Senior Manager of Zero Cost Energy Future, Nicola Murphy, said it was pleasing to be able to breathe new life into the land, with a program that demonstrates how to transition to a low-carbon economy.

“The site will see a complete turnaround from facilitating a traditional energy source to housing renewable energy resources that will reduce our carbon emissions by 10,710 tonnes per year,” Murphy said.

“Located on the north-east corner of the former refinery precinct, this piece of land hadn’t actually been used for operational refinery activities, and geotechnical and environmental investigations confirmed it is suitable for our solar project.”

Fitted to fixed-tilt racking systems on an east-to-west axis, the new arrays of 2 x 1 m solar panels will generate an average total of 21 GWh of electricity per year.

“Solar panels are already being installed on our existing land across the road at the Adelaide Desalination Plant and we’re hoping to start construction on this new site in mid-2020.

“During high production mode the combined solar generation and battery storage will offset around 50% of the plant’s energy costs, with the facility’s existing hydro turbines making additional smaller contributions.

“In times of higher rainfall when the plant operates in a lower production mode, the combined solar generation and battery storage will provide more energy than the facility requires and return the excess to the National Electricity Market, Murphy explained.

“As with all of our energy projects, we’re committed to ensuring construction works throughout the duration of the project will be completed with minimal impact to the surrounding environmental area.”

As part of SA Water’s renewable energy management initiative, more than 500,000 solar panels will be installed across 37 of its sites across the state to produce 242 GWh of electricity, along with 34 megawatt hours of battery storage.

“The desalination process requires a significant amount of energy, so putting more focus on our own energy generation will reduce our overall draw on the local electricity grid, allowing us to better manage operating costs,” Murphy said.

“We will still need to draw electricity from the grid, but we’ll offset those costs by storing and selling energy we produce at other times.

“Sustainability is at the core of this program: sustainably reducing our operational costs, and delivering positive environmental outcomes.”

Image caption: SA Water Senior Manager Zero Cost Energy Future Nicola Murphy with one of the utility's existing solar arrays.