Logan City Council hits 1 MW solar mark
Logan City Council has passed the 1 MW milestone of solar capacity on Council-owned buildings after the completion of a 100 kW install atop Logan North Aquatic Centre. The Council has plans to more than double that mark in the next year alone, however, some planned installations may fall victim to Covid-19 inspired cutbacks.
With the installation of a 100kW system atop the Logan North Aquatic Centre, Logan City Council believes that the combined generational output of its 25 solar systems has passed the 1 MW mark.
The 303 solar panels now shimmering on the Aquatic Centre roof follow closely on the heels of a 70kW system at Mt Warren Sports Centre, a 55kW system at Marsden Library, an 83kW array atop the Logan North Library and a neat little 18kW number at the Logan West Community Centre. This all means that Logan City Council’s combined solar savings are expected to reach an estimated $140,000 annually and reduce CO2 emissions by 930 tonnes.
City Planning, Economic Development and Environmental Committee Chair Councillor Jon Raven said that council support of the renewables industry is helping to create jobs in Logan, and, what is more, “Embracing solar is good for the environment and for the bottom line.”
The 1 MW mark is not the only solar milestone Logan City Council has achieved recently, and nor is Council ready to rest on its laurels. A recent 150 kW install at Cedar Grove Environmental Centre marks Council’s first ground-based solar system, and Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant is readying itself a 1 MW system all to itself, set to come online in 2021/2022.
The 1 MW system at Looganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant will presumably be used to energise the site’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) funded new technology project to turn biosolids into heat energy and biochar.
Council had said that its 2020/2021 budget, released on Monday, July 20, would include $308,000 for the installation of 200 kW atop Council Administration Centre in Logan Central. However, the budget makes no mention of this project. This project may have been the victim of Covid-19 cutbacks, but pv magazine Australia is still waiting on confirmation from Logan City Council.
It is Logan City Council’s goal to be carbon-neutral by 2022, an ambition powered largely by solar PV and no doubt supported in the community, 41,000 of which have their own solar PV systems.
Source : pv-magazine
