City of Adelaide reaches 100 per cent renewables through Flow Power deal

As of today – Wednesday, July 1 – the City of Adelaide’s operations will be 100% powered by renewable electricity through a partnership with Melbourne-based energy retailer Flow Power, in a first for a South Australian council.

“We signed this agreement at the end of 2019 and it is now ‘going live’,” said the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Sandy Verschoor.

“From 1 July, if it’s run by the City of Adelaide, it’s being powered by renewable electricity. This means that all our corporate and community buildings, council event infrastructure, electric vehicle chargers, barbecues in the Park Lands, water pumps, street lighting and traffic lights – everything that council operates – will be powered by renewable electricity.

“The electricity to be provided by renewable generation each year is equivalent to powering over 3,800 homes. The switch will reduce emissions by over 11,000 tonnes or the equivalent of taking 3,500 cars off the road. Electricity cost savings are anticipated to be in the order of 20% compared to the City of Adelaide’s most recent contract.

“One of the outcomes in our Strategic Plan 2020-2024 is for the City of Adelaide to be an environmental leader and we’re aiming to be one of the world’s first carbon neutral cities – switching all of our own operations to renewable electricity will help us achieve these goals.”

Through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Flow Power,

The City of Adelaide will meet all its electricity needs from renewable electricity from the South Australian grid, though a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Flow Power,

The electricity necessary for the City of Adelaide’s operations will initially be delivered from the 56.7MW Clements Gap wind farm (pictured above) in the mid-north of South Australia.

In the future, however, two solar farms to be constructed in Coonalpyn with a capacity of 4.95MW and Streaky Bay with a capacity of 3MW will contribute around 25% of the City of Adelaide’s electricity supply when they begin operations mid-2020.

Flow Power acquired the two solar farms from developer Tetris Energy back in February. The company made a formal application for a licence for the solar farms with the state energy regulator, ESCOSA, this week, two of nine new solar farms proposed for the state.

“The City of Adelaide will be the first customer powered by generation from both projects, as well as wind, to create a firmer renewable offtake and support the integration of this new generation into the system,” said Matthew van der Linden, CEO of Flow Power in February.

“This agreement cements South Australia’s position as world leader in renewable energy,” added David Evans, Flow Power Co-Founder and Director, this week. “We are happy to be a part of that momentum, which will also see the City of Adelaide support the delivery of new solar projects into the state and the energy market.

“This is a long-term partnership, which will empower the City to fulfil its ambitious climate commitments and help drive Australia’s transition to net-zero.”

The City of Adelaide already boasts 1.1MW worth of its own solar power capacity, build across eight buildings that generates enough electricity to power the equivalent of 338 homes and which saves the City 12% in building electricity use and over $250,000 a year.