Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) rooftops will soon be sporting 10,000 solar panels as part of a $7 million project spanning three Australian sites in NSW, Qld and WA.
The 3.5-megawatt solar PV system will be installed across two hectares of roof space at the three sites by 50 contractors over the next eight to ten months, and is expected to help reduce Coca-Cola Amatil’s annual energy costs by up to $1.3 million.
The project is one of the largest industrial rooftop solar PV programs in Australia, according to energy services company Verdia, which is managing the roll-out.
Verdia CEO Paul Peters said the program extends CCA’s sustainability leadership position beyond waste and water.
“This is one of the biggest roof-top programs in the country. We’re installing enough solar panels to cover 42 average suburban blocks,” he said.
“By mid next year, Coca-Cola Amatil will be drawing around 14 per cent less energy from the local electricity grid across these three sites. They’re replacing it with power from the sun, which equates to a reduction of 4,163 tonnes of greenhouse gas each year.”
CCA managing director for Australian Beverages Peter West said the investment made sense both commercially and environmentally.
“On current figures the installation will pay for itself in six to seven years and is expected to provide an additional $14 million benefit over its lifetime,” West said.
“We’re also committed to obtaining at least 60 per cent of our energy needs from renewable and low-carbon sources, by 2020.
“So, this installation is a win-win for us, and congratulations to the team at Verdia for helping make it a reality.”
CCA chose three sites that are used for soft drink production, bottling and distribution, and the company says it will use almost all of the energy from the three solar systems on site - with little or no export - given they have steady predictable load seven days a week.
The company generally uses more energy in summer during its peak production period, which will coincide with greater onsite energy production from the solar arrays.
Final designs and network agreements are expected to be complete by the end of the year, with work to start early next year, and the project complete and commissioned by the middle of next year.
