Wannon Water has deployed one of Australia’s largest floating solar arrays to help drive down costs across its network in southern Victoria.
The new system can generate more than 600,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity each year, with 1260 bi‑facial solar panels capturing sunlight from above as well as reflected light from the water surface.
Wannon Water managing director Steven Waterhouse said the project was supporting a wise use of energy.
“Projects like this help us use energy more efficiently and keep costs down, which means better value for our customers,” he said.
A key cog in Warrnambool’s drinking water equation, Brierly Basin is used as a holding storage for water sourced from the Gellibrand River in the Otways and is supplemented by water captured from the Warrnambool Roof Water Harvesting System.
Once water from Brierly Basin is pumped to the treatment plant, it’s disinfected and made safe for drinking and food preparation before being distributed to homes, businesses and industries across Warrnambool, Koroit and Allansford.
The floating solar system supports Wannon Water’s goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2030 by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 600 tonnes each year.
“It’s a practical way to cut emissions while continuing to provide safe and reliable water services for our community,” Waterhouse said.
Gippsland Water has also deployed a floating solar array on a treatment lagoon at the Drouin wastewater treatment plant, with the 644 panels able to fully power the treatment plant at peak capacity.
This forms part of the utility’s efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2030, and represented the eighth Gippsland Water facility to be partially powered by solar energy.
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