Harnessing the sun for water at winery

Andrew Peace Wines is one of Australia’s largest family-owned wineries. It is committed to producing the highest quality products while improving operational sustainability.

The vineyard and winery operations use a considerable amount of water, which is typically pumped from the Murray River. Electricity supply for the pumping stations is often at the end of long supply feeders.

Andrew Peace Wines had an opportunity to source water from an artesian source on its land, which would reduce its offtake from the Murray River. This project involved building a water treatment plant that required a reliable power supply and the company also wanted to make it renewable.

The solution

Acacia Energy, with expert support from its Engineering Procurement and Construction partner, AEES Group, completed a detailed analysis of Andrew Peace Wines’ situation and developed a bespoke solution comprising:

• 1 MW of ground mount solar PV, and
• 3500 kVA bio-diesel generators.

The impact

The 1 MW solar system displaces electricity for daytime operations all year round and significantly reduces the amount of electricity drawn from the network.

The 3500 kVA bio-diesel generators provide power when supply from the electricity network is not available, ensuring that water is always available for operations.

This solution decreased the water-treatment plant’s energy consumption with 42% of the electricity used yearly replaced by the energy produced by the Acacia Energy renewable solution.

Combining the impact for both the water treatment plant and the winery renewable energy solutions has provided significant savings on their electricity bill.

The project has reduced Andrew Peace Wines’ reliance on water from the river system and delivered water for operations at a lower cost.