Wine producer, Australian Vintage, will become the first in Australia to enter a large-scale hybrid renewable corporate power purchase agreement (PPA), through wholesale energy retailer Flow Power.
The PPA mixes wind and solar generation to leverage the best of both generation profiles to match Australian Vintage’s energy consumption. It will provide renewable generation to the company’s Buronga Hill Winery, the third largest in Australia, for a period of up to ten years.
The agreement is a major move towards reducing Australian Vintage’s environmental footprint and meeting its sustainability commitments, ensuring 90 per cent of consumption at its Buronga Hill facility in New South Wales is met by solar and wind power.
The company, which produces leading brands McGuigan Wines, Tempus Two and Nepenthe, has also installed one of the largest privately-owned solar systems at the winery, which produces 30 per cent of its power requirement.
This week, to supplement the bulk of the remaining power needed at the winery, Australian Vintage has signed a hybrid deal with energy provider Flow Power to supply additional solar and wind energy from off-site sources. Flow Power will deliver a further 60 per cent of the winery’s requirements through renewable PPAs, the equivalent amount needed to power 2,200 homes for a year, significantly reducing the company’s environmental footprint.
Flow Power managing director, Matthew van der Linden, said that his company was thrilled to be working with Australian vintage on the deal.
“The team have aligned the profiles of the wind farm, solar plant and on-site solar at the Buronga Hill winery to create a solution that will meet its power needs for the next ten years,” van der Linden said.
The move is part of a raft of green investments by the wine company, including installing solar at three different sites in Australia.
Australian Vintage chief executive officer, Neil McGuigan, said that the company was committed to its green agenda.
“We are making significant progress on the ambitious sustainability targets we have set and are proud to be at the forefront of the renewable energy movement and leading the field in the wine industry,” McGuigan said.
“We are proud to be one of the first businesses to sign a hybrid Renewable Corporate PPA in Australia.”
McGuigan said that the PPA was a milestone for the company, which operates at a scale that can deliver significant environmental benefits as a result of its green policies.
“The new partnership with Flow Power is a significant step towards our Buronga Hill winery being predominantly powered by renewable energy,” he said.
“By lowering our carbon emissions and putting renewables at the centre of our approach, we are playing our part in creating a more sustainable future.”