By Mitchell Clarke
Nine Mile Fresh apple processing and packing facility in Tynong is now equipped with one of Victoria’s largest industrial solar power stations.
The 1.14 megawatt system is made up of 2850 solar panels installed across 17,600 square meters of industrial roof space.
Nine Mile Fresh director James Ryan said it was important for the company to lower their environmental footprint.
“We spend more than one million dollars on electricity, so it’s a significant outlay and an obvious area where we can be more efficient and reduce our operating costs,” Mr Ryan said.
The facility uses a high tech sorting, grading and packing system which processes 150,000 kilograms of apples daily, one of the most sophisticated operations of its type worldwide.
Apples glide through 51 separate channels of bruise-free water as part of the grading and sorting system, meaning more fruit is processed but more power is used, approximately 5700 megawatt hours annually, the same amount used by 1000 Victorian homes.
“It is also becoming much more important for consumers and retailers to choose a product that has a lower environmental footprint,” Mr Ryan said.
“Reducing our energy use and emissions and improving our sustainability helps achieve that.”
The project was managed by energy services business Verdia and financed by the Bank of Melbourne’s energy efficient program and is one of several large-megawatt sized solar generators to be powered up over the past seven months.
Verdia CEO Paul Peters said the solar installation would provide clean, emissions free electricity at a lower price than power sourced from the grid.
“The system will pay for itself in just under six years and then provide a third of on-site electricity for free,” Mr Peters said.
“So it stacks up financially. It will also help cut energy use by one third and greenhouse gas emissions by 1600 tonnes each year, so there’s a large environmental benefit there too.”
