The CSIRO has revealed plans to add a further 1MW of rooftop solar at its Canberra Black Mountain facility, and install another 1.2MW across sites in Queensland and South Australia, as the agency works to slash its energy costs.
A tender for the additional PV panels at Black Mountain, and new systems at Pullenvale (QLD) and Waite (SA) was launched by CSIRO, and it expects a rapid payback.
“A key opportunity exists for CSIRO to hedge against the predicted upward price trend in electricity prices by investing today in alternative renewable energy sources to power their sites,” the tender documents say.
“The installation of large scale on-site renewable energy generation is a key mechanism to reduce CSIRO’s carbon footprint.”
The nation’s premier scientific and research agency – which has been a major contributor to renewable energy research and development in Australia – has a renewable energy target of 5MW of on-site renewable energy generation by 2020.
It has also committed to reduce its emissions by 5 per cent by the end of June 2020 (compared to 1999–2000 levels).
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