Victoria’s State Electricity Commission (SEC) has commissioned a new rooftop solar system atop the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) at Albert Park with the 1.3 MW array now supplying about a quarter of the venue’s electricity needs.
The system, owned and operated by the SEC under an agreement with the State Sport Centres Trust, which manages and operates MSAC, is expected to generate more than 1 GWh of renewable electricity annually.
Under the arrangement, the SEC sells the electricity generated by the rooftop system directly to MSAC at a lower cost than electricity purchased from the grid. The deal is expected to save MSAC about $80,000 a year on its electricity costs.
SEC General Manager Customer Suzanne Retschko said the project provides MSAC with access to renewable energy without it having to fund the significant upfront cost of installing its own solar infrastructure.
“MSAC will receive around 24% of their energy at a lower cost, avoiding upfront costs and a range of network charges,” she said.
State Sport Centres Trust Chief Executive Officer Kate Roffey said the new solar array will power everything from the MSAC’s spa, sauna and wave pool to the scoreboards across its 10 indoor basketball courts.
“Installing solar is not only critical in helping keep our fees and charges affordable for the millions of Victorians who access our Victorian State Sport Centres every day of the year, it’s an important part of our commitment to the long-term sustainability of our venues,” she said.
“Our partnership with SEC has allowed us to invest in solar to power MSAC without having to outlay the large-scale up-front capital investment usually required.”
The State Sport Centres Trust is among the Victorian government customers supplied by the SEC, which retails 100% renewable electricity to more than 4,400 government sites and operations following its entry into the market a year ago..
“SEC is excited to work with more Victorian businesses to deliver behind-the-meter solar and battery projects to enable them to take better control of their energy consumption,” Retschko said.
SEC is planning to deliver 4.5 GW in new renewable energy generation and storage by 2035, with more than 1 GW of committed projects to date. This includes the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub, and the solar-battery hybrid SEC Renewable Energy Park.
It has also partnered with Aware Super and Melbourne-headquartered renewables investor Birdwood Energy to deliver the 400 MW / 1.86 GWh Baranduda battery project and will team with Italian battery developer Energy Dome to deploy a 10-hour duration compressed carbon dioxide battery energy storage system near Morwell in the Latrobe Valley.
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