Five major shopping centres in Australia, including four here in Queensland will soon have solar panels covering their entire roofs as part of the first phase of a new partnership to deliver 15MW of renewable energy.
The Premier said the new partnership between Energy Queensland’s renewables business, Yurika, and Queensland Investment Corporation would deliver 15 megawatts of renewables across five major shopping centre sites.
The Premier made the announcement during a virtual Stimulus Summit presentation on Queensland’s renewable energy boom organised by the Smart Energy Council.
The shopping centres include Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast, Logan Hyperdome, Grand Central Shopping Centre in Toowoomba, Domain Central in Townsville and Melbourne Water Gardens Shopping Centre in Victoria.
Domain Central will be the first to benefit and will become the first shopping centre in Australia to be fully energy self-sustained within three years.
“This is an exciting step towards Queensland’s clean energy future,” the Premier said.
“When I became Premier, we had no large-scale renewable energy projects in Queensland.
“Now, we’ve got $6 billion of renewable energy investment and 3,240 megawatts of renewable energy built or underway. These projects have created 5300 jobs.
“We’re on track to exceed 20 per cent of energy from renewables this year and on target to reach 50 per cent by 2030.
“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.”
Queensland Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said Queensland’s renewable energy revolution was also helping put downward pressure on electricity prices for Queenslanders.
“Queensland has the energy trifecta: the lowest average prices on the eastern seaboard, reliable supply and a planned path to a renewable future,” he said.
QIC GRE Managing Director, Michael O’Brien, said the rollout of Yurika’s Smart Connected Solar technology across QIC GRE’s Australian assets will deliver significant efficiencies and large-scale renewable energy supply.
“This renewable-energy-as-a-service approach will provide reliable, clean energy for our centres and our retail partners, significantly lowering the carbon footprint of our Australian retail portfolio and reducing grid electricity consumption by up to ~30% across the portfolio,” he said.
The project rollout will occur in phases, with four of QIC GRE’s Queensland assets to receive the technology first, including Domain Central (Townsville, QLD), Grand Central (Toowoomba, QLD), Hyperdome (Logan, QLD) and Robina Town Centre (Gold Coast, QLD), with Watergardens in Melbourne also taking part in this first phase.
“Domain Central, Queensland’s largest bulky goods shopping centre, will be the first to benefit from Yurika’s holistic Smart Connected Solar program,” Mr O’Brien said.
“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.
“As part of this initiative we are also investigating the suitability of battery storage at Domain Central.”
