Energy efficiency projects
Project summaries
Amcor Beverage Cans
Optimising Compressed Air Costs Using a Holistic Approach
Funding: $60,000
Amcor has installed new equipment to save energy and reduce emissions at its Revesby and Smithfield factories. Web-based metering has been installed to raise awareness and engage staff in reducing unnecessary compressed air use. The project is saving 448 MWh of electricity and 475 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
A consortium has come together in the Murray Region to reduce energy demand, improve efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The consortium consists of local councils, energy providers, the Murray Region Development Board and local businesses. The project has used an innovative mix of technologies in diverse applications across the region, including the installation of smart meters and "time of use" prices and energy savings measures at thousands of premises throughout the region. The project is saving 26,348 MWh of electricity and 28,760 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Big Switch Projects Pty Ltd
Northern Wollongong Home Energy Initiative
Funding: $379,286
Big Switch Projects developed a residential energy efficiency program for households in the northern suburbs of Wollongong. The project introduced a range of energy saving packages, including fuel-switching (i.e. electric to gas cookers) and purchasing price discounts through dual fuel (gas and electricity) supply agreement incentives. The project also introduced smart meters into homes, uses bulk purchase agreements to lower the cost of more energy and water efficient appliances and offers subsidies to low income households. This is saving 361 MWh of electricity and 383 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Air compressors at Carter Holt Harvey's particleboard manufacturing facilities in Oberon and Tumut have been upgraded to target compressed air to where it’s needed and save energy and greenhouse gas emissions. With the compressors working 24-hours a day for 330 days of the year, this initiative is saving 292 MWh of electricity and 310 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Country Energy
Energy and Water Savings through Minimisation of Water Evaporation
Funding: $700,000
A giant cover will be laid over Stephens Creek Reservoir, near Broken Hill, to stop the evaporation of 143 million litres of water a year. The cover will also save 429 MWh of electricity and 455 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, because replacement water will not have to be pumped 100km from the main storage at Menindee. The evaporation proof barriers will cover 6.8 hectares of the Stephens Creek Reservoir, equal to just over six average football fields. The savings measures will include packaged offers to consumers, in-house monitors to provide real time information on price and consumption and data and intelligent agents to control the switching of equipment and appliances.
Top of page
Ecosave Pty Ltd
Lighting Retrofit and Education Project
Funding: $167,360
An office block, sporting complex and 17 council buildings have been fitted with energy-efficient lighting to demonstrate the potential for major energy savings. Ecosave has worked with IAG, North Sydney Council and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority to upgrade lighting and deliver an education program to share the benefits of the initiatives with staff, customers and other organisations. The upgrades are significantly reducing peak summer demand and are saving 1,170 MWh of electricity and 1,240 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Ecosave has rolled out a range of energy saving measures in shopping centres, day care facilities, libraries and public pools in this partnership project with Stockland's Greenhills Shopping Centre, Toohey's Brewery and North Sydney Council. This includes lighting retrofits, control upgrades, the installation of variable speed drives and efficiency improvements to air-conditioning systems. The energy savings are coupled with an education component to promote the energy and water saving achievements to the 7 million people who visit the participating facilities each year. The project is saving 1,554 MWh of electricity and 1,647 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
EnergyAustralia
Energy Distributors Project - To replace electric hot waters with gas and solar or heat pump hot water heaters
Funding: $114,250
Electric hot water systems are the largest energy users in the homes and are the most costly and greenhouse intensive in heating water. This Office provided funding to EnergyAustralia for the replacement of electric hot water heaters with gas, solar or heat pump hot water systems. EnergyAustralia provided rebates of $150 for the replacement of electric to gas hot water system and $400 for solar and heat pumps systems. In addition, some electric to gas conversions trials were conducted in Singleton area where the participants were offered free electric to gas conversion systems. A total of 352 conversions were made during this project which is expected to displace about 950 MWh of electricity and reduce around 1,279 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
EnergyAustralia has extended its household energy REFIT program to Sydney customers, providing a water and energy efficiency kit to improve efficiency in the home. The program has built on Sydney Water's retrofit program. It included a home water and energy audit by a licensed tradesperson and installation of compact fluorescent bulbs and water efficient showerheads in second bathrooms. The program has been offered to renters and homeowners and is saving 5,938 MWh and 6,551 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
This project will offer major businesses in NSW the opportunity to introduce energy saving absorption chillers into their industrial processes. The technology of absorption chilling is proven but has not been widely adopted. Energy Conservation Systems plan to identify potential customers for the equipment to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology in industrial energy savings in different settings. The absorption chillers improve efficiency because they use natural gas, waste heat from industrial processes or heat from a cogeneration plant instead of electricity. The project will save 3,670 MWh of electricity and 2,675 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Tenants in Investa's commercial properties can tap into a subsidy to embark on energy efficiencies under this program by Energy Conservation Systems. The tenants select an energy efficiency benchmark using the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR) Scheme and are assured of meeting this through savings with the 'Investa Greenhouse Guarantee'. This program helps office building tenants pay the upfront costs of the efficiency upgrades, to be recouped later through savings on energy bills and is saving an estimated 1,645 MWh and 1,744 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Five commercial buildings in Sydney's CBD have been targeted for energy improvements to save around 15% of electricity use. The buildings are part of GPT's property portfolio and include the Sussex Street Towers 1 and 2. The program has addressed some of the inefficiencies in the five buildings by upgrading the heating, cooling and lighting systems. The project is saving 2,643 MWh of electricity and 2,802 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Nine Industry Superannuation Property Trust buildings in Sydney CBD and Parramatta have received upgrades to lighting controls, the installation of motion sensors in toilets, kitchens and meeting rooms, variable speed drives on air handling units, and power factor correction. The project is saving 2,186 MWh of electricity and 2,317 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Four commercial buildings in Sydney CBD, North Sydney and Parramatta have received lighting and control upgrades, variable speed drives on pumps and cooling tower fans and sub-metering systems to monitor gas, electricity and water use. The project is saving 1,333 MWh of electricity and 1,413 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Three Investa properties in Sydney CBD, North Sydney and Castle Hill have received upgrades to lighting controls, the installation of motion sensors in toilets, kitchens and meeting rooms, variable speed drives on air handling units, and power factor correction systems. The installation of variable speed drives has also improved the efficiency of air handling units. The project is saving 342 MWh of electricity and 363 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Major energy savings are being made in the dry cleaning industry though this bilingual energy education program which was developed by the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW. The program has built on the highly successful Saving Water in Asian-Style Restaurants Program, which received $400,000 through the Water Savings Fund to provide incentives for restaurateurs to switch from water-intensive traditional wok stoves to 'waterless' versions. Under this program Vietnamese and Chinese dry cleaner owners have been offered a free boiler audit in exchange for agreeing to fix and repair any problems which have a payback period of less than 2 years. With boilers accounting for 50% to 90% of dry cleaning energy costs, the potential for savings by each business is huge. The program is saving 734 MWh of electricity and 778 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Fairfield Leisure Centre and the Wakeley Administration Centre have become showcases for energy efficiency as part of Fairfield City Council's "Sustain'n'Save" industry education program. Upgrades to the buildings include installing energy-efficient lighting and improving the efficiency of air-conditioning systems, pool pumps and hot water systems. The initiatives have been promoted to local businesses and industry and become a showcase for the cost savings and environmental benefits of improved energy efficiency. This project is saving 196 MWh of electricity and 209 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
A new energy saving unit known as 'The Ark' has been installed in three registered clubs in NSW to help them save electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Ark provides four-way electricity savings within the one unit to maximise efficiency. It works by optimising voltage, filtering harmonics, correcting power factor and balancing the three phases of electricity. The project is saving 1,850 MWh of electricity and 1,961 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
HANZ (Potts Point) Pty Ltd
Holiday Inn Potts Point Chiller Upgrade
Funding: $66,000
The Holiday Inn at Potts Point is now cool for guests and gentler on the environment through this project which replaced the chillers in the cooling system. The new high-efficiency chiller is saving 580 MWh of electricity and 615 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Huhtamaki has replaced an over-size compressor with a smaller model at its manufacturing plant at South Windsor as part of an energy saving program which is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 636 tonnes a year. Monitoring equipment has been installed at the cup-making plant to ensure it is always running at maximum efficiency, air-leak surveys are conducted twice a year and new rimmer equipment has been installed which is saving 99% of the manufacturing waste which currently needs to be reprocessed. The project is also saving 600 MWh of electricity a year.
Top of page
Impact Employee Communications has developed and delivered an education program to empower employees of the State's highest energy users to help make energy savings. The program built on a pilot developed by Impact and delivered to employees at Amcor which showed increased savings and greater enthusiasm from staff educated about the company's environmental activities. The program is saving 780 MWh of electricity and 827 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Six hundred Blackburn householders have been able to call in an expert energy assessor to make their homes more energy efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As well as finding out where and how energy is used - and wasted - in their homes, the free audit also replaced five standard bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps and installed a water-efficient showerhead. The project is saving 1,183 MWh of electricity and 1,254 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
15,000 households in rural and regional NSW have been offered free compact fluorescent lightbulbs and AAA showerheads in this project by Low Energy Supplies and Services (LESS). The products were delivered and installed through a combination of advertising, direct door deliveries and local council programs. The program was combined with a water and energy efficiency education program and is saving 55,041 MWh of electricity and 58,344 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Next Energy pays householders $35 to recycle their inefficient second fridges. With refrigeration accounting for 13% of the average NSW household electricity bills, second fridges add significantly to power bills and greenhouse gas emissions. Based on successful programs run in the United States, the program works with local councils to encourage their communities to take up the offer. The project is saving 2,084 MWh of electricity and 2,209 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
The Primo smallgoods site at Chullora has upgraded their refrigeration, compressor and defrost systems to an Energy Management System to lower maintenance and operating costs. The project is saving 1,671 MWh of electricity and 2,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
This project proposes to make the most of the latest new technology to improve the energy efficiency of street lights in 29 local government areas. The Street Lighting Improvement Program (SLIP) brings EnergyAustralia and the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils together to improve the energy efficiency of 85% of the street lights in their region. Different technologies will be used for main road and residential lighting, keeping the streets as bright but using at least 40% less energy. This project is expected to save 15,400 MWh of electricity and 16,324 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Getting mining water out of the mine accounts for almost a third of the energy used at Springvale Colliery. This project installed energy efficient speed drives on a bore water dewatering pump to maximise efficiency, save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Power factor correction has also been installed to improve efficiency. The project is saving 1,902 MWh of electricity and 2,016 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Variable speed drives have been installed on the dust extraction fan motors which has dramatically improved the efficiency at Smorgon Steel's manufacturing plant at Waratah. Variable speed drives maximise energy efficiency by delivering full power to the motor when needed and slowing down when the operation is working at lower capacity. The project is saving 1,342 MWh of electricity a year and 1,423 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
The University has replaced several inefficient compressors for two separate chillers with high efficiency Turbocor centrifugal compressors. It has also connected a standby generator to the University's internal grid to reduce peak demand charges at the University. The project is saving 185 MWh of electricity and 196 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Toohey's Brewery at Lidcombe is saving 1,157 MWh of electricity and 1,226 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. Power factor correction equipment has been installed on 12 switchboards around the site to maximise efficiency and reduce peak demand.
Top of page
Varying the speed of equipment used by the paper manufacturing process has improved energy efficiency at the Visy Paper Mill and is saving greenhouse gas emissions. Visy's Smithfield Mill has installed variable speed drives, feedback controllers and changed piping to improve efficiency of the pulp agitators used in making paper. Targeted trials have tested pumps and machinery to find the minimum agitation speeds for maximum efficiency. The project is saving 4,280 MWh of electricity and 4,537 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Top of page
Page last updated: 31 January 2012
