Oil refinery and petrol pump owner signs its largest renewable contract

Australian listed petrol refinery owner and fuel retailer Viva Energy says it has signed its biggest renewable energy contract yet, a 10-year agreement to buy power and renewable energy certificates from the Mt Gellibrand wind farm in Victoria.

The 132 MW Mt Gellibrand wind farm is owned and operated by Spanish energy giant Acciona Energy, which is also building the Macintyre wind project in Queensland which will be – for a time at leat – the largest wind farm in Australia .

Viva Energy says the wind farm, completed in 2018, is located near Colac, about 70kms from its fuel refinery in Geelong, and will help it meet its emissions reduction targets.

It appears to replace an earlier contract, announced in 2019, to tap into the same wind farm to meet one third of the refinery’s electricity needs. This new contract will account for around 20 per cent of Viva Energy’s current total national electricity consumption across all its operations.

The renewed deal with Acciona follows a smaller deal struck by Viva Energy last year with the state-owned CleanCo to buy renewable power to support its more than 100 Coles Express sites across Queensland.

“Viva Energy signed its first PPA agreement with Acciona Energia back in 2019, helping to support and establish the development of renewable energy in the Geelong region,” said Viva’s head of energy business development Lachlan Pfeiffer.

“This new agreement provides both substantial power supply and LGCs to Viva Energy, supporting our ambition toreduce scope 2 emissions across our various businesses as well as providing a long-term commitment to local renewable energy generation in the greater Geelong region.”

Pfeiffer says Viva Energy continues to explore renewable energy sourcing opportunities across Australia.

Viva Energy’s Geelong Refinery operates bulk fuels, aviation, bitumen, marine, chemicals, polymers and lubricants businesses supported by more than 20 terminals and 60 airports and airfields across the country.