AGL Energy Limited (AGL) and Yalumba Family Vignerons today celebrated a major milestone in the installation of the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) system at an Australian winery.

The 1.4 MW solar PV system installation at Yalumba’s iconic Barossa Valley winery is also one of the largest commercial installations in South Australia.

AGL Managing Director & CEO Andy Vesey joined South Australian Minister for Sustainability, Environment & Conservation, and Minister for Climate Change, the Hon. Ian Hunter MLC, and Yalumba Managing Director Nick Waterman to inspect the project’s progress as it reached the mid-point of installation.

“We are proud to mark the mid-point of the project and partner with such an iconic Australian winery.

“A project of this magnitude demonstrates AGL’s capability in this area and also aligns with AGL’s commitment in our Greenhouse Gas Policy to increase renewable energy generation. Together we are helping Australia meet its commitment to the two degree goal and transition to a carbon constrained future.

“Solar installations like this one at Yalumba also demonstrate how distributed energy can empower businesses and communities in regional as well as urban areas, providing them with greater control of their energy usage and costs. It can also increase resilience should supply be compromised for any reason such as the outages South Australia experienced a few weeks ago due to severe weather.

“As Australia’s largest private owner, operator and developer of renewable energy generation we welcome the opportunity to help Yalumba enhance its already impressive track record in sustainability. The solar system will produce approximately 2,000 MWh of renewable energy and abate more than 1,100 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually, which is the equivalent of taking more than 340 cars off the road. It’s also expected to reduce Yalumba’s energy costs by approximately 20 percent each year,” Mr Vesey said.

The solar system installation at Yalumba consists of 5,384 panels installed across three locations, including the Angaston Winery, Oxford Landing Winery and the Yalumba Nursery.

Yalumba Managing Director Nick Waterman said sustainability is paramount to the core values of the family-run business, which has been in operation for 166 years.

“This installation has been the result of a strong, collaborative effort between the Yalumba winemaking services department and AGL over the last 18 months. It is an exciting project and one that will deliver us significant savings, as well as being consistent with our corporate focus on sustainability,” Mr Waterman said. 

Installation of the 1.4 MW solar PV system began in August, 2016 and is expected to be completed in December this year.

About AGL
AGL is one of Australia’s leading integrated energy companies. It is taking action to responsibly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions while providing secure and affordable energy to its customers. Drawing on over 175 years of experience, AGL serves its customers throughout eastern Australia with meeting their energy requirements, including gas, electricity, solar PV and related products and services. AGL has a diverse power generation portfolio including base, peaking and intermediate generation plants, spread across traditional thermal generation as well as renewable sources including hydro, wind, solar, landfill gas and biomass.