UNE renewable energy options study
Client: University of New England
Location: Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
Date: July 2014 – September 2014
Identifying viable renewable energy options to reduce energy use for significant cost savings
Background
The University of New England (UNE) operates a large campus at Armidale in New South Wales, consuming 38 GWh of energy annually. The associated energy costs are a significant ongoing expense and UNE was seeking ways to reduce these costs.
Solution
Entura was engaged to recommend suitable embedded renewable energy options to reduce the campus energy costs.
To define suitable renewable energy options, Entura conducted a site visit to understand and characterise the load profile, energy use and technology at the campus. We performed a resource and technology assessment covering a range of technologies including solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and mini-hydro. From this, several renewable energy options were shortlisted and assessed to determine the optimal economic return.
Entura provided expertise in project planning, siting, tariff uncertainty, risk assessment, funding, policy recommendations, and business case preparation, resulting in the optimal embedded generation solution.
Outcome
Entura’s key findings included two viable embedded renewable energy project options for both wind and solar, to provide significant annual energy savings.
Our understanding of renewable technologies, and our practical experience of developing, constructing and operating hybrid renewable systems for cost-effective, reliable and sustainable power, contributed to the success of this project.
