The Mildura Landfill precinct, taking in the landfill, Mildura Eco Village and AroundAgain is now powered by the sun following a successful partnership between Mildura Rural City Council and the Sunraysia Sustainability Network (SSN).
Ninety-four 500-watt solar panels have been installed on the Mildura Transfer Station roof, generating 47kW of electricity, which will be utilised across the entire site.
Funded by Sustainability Victoria’s Community Power Hubs program, the project is among several community energy projects delivered throughout the Loddon Mallee in partnership with the Bendigo Sustainability Group (BSG).
Councillor for Environmental Sustainability Jason Modica said Council and the SSN would share the electricity cost savings for the first decade of the arrangement, after which 100% of the savings will go to Council.
The SSN is the driving force behind the Mildura Eco Village next to the Mildura Landfill, the hub of environmental education and sustainable living for the community.
“There are so many positives to this project,” Cr Modica said.
“Firstly, it will shave thousands of dollars from our energy costs each year, and secondly, it builds on the huge environmental gains we’re already making in terms of diverting waste from landfill through our successful food and garden organics service.
“The buildings and facilities our teams use to process the general waste and recycling collected from our kerbside service are now powered by renewables in the form of solar energy generated on-site.
“Similarly, the Mildura Eco Village and AroundAgain both already have a strong focus on living and operating more sustainably through education and re-use, and we’re further building on this by powering these sites at no cost to our environment, and significantly reduced cost to our ratepayers.
“From an environmental perspective, the benefits this project is generating is the equivalent of avoiding burning more than 24 tonnes of coal each year, or if you look at it another way, planting more than 1,321 trees.”
