Annastacia Palaszczuk
Five major shopping centres in Australia, including four in Queensland, will soon have their roofs covered in solar panels in the first phase of a new partnership to deliver renewable energy.
The partnership between Energy Queensland’s renewables business, Yurika, and Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) will deliver 15MW of renewables across the five sites, helping charge up EVs too.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the deal during a May 6 Smart Energy Council virtual Stimulus Summit presentation on Queensland’s renewable energy boom.
The shopping centres are Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast, Logan Hyperdome, Grand Central Shopping Centre in Toowoomba, Domain Central in Townsville and Melbourne Water Gardens Shopping Centre in Victoria.
Domain Central is the first to benefit and will become the first shopping centre in Australia to be fully energy self-sustained within three years.
It’s also considering battery energy storage.
“This is an exciting step towards Queensland’s clean energy future,” Palaszczuk says.
“When I became premier, we had no large-scale renewable energy projects in Queensland.
“Now, we’ve got $6 billion of renewable energy investment and 3240MW of renewable energy built or underway. These projects have created 5300 jobs.
“We’re on track to exceed 20% of energy from renewables this year and on target to reach 50% by 2030,” Palaszczuk adds.
“This partnership will start with the delivery of solar panels, batteries and 24/7 monitoring technology and the ability to add additional renewable options such as electric vehicle charging stations.”
Queensland energy minister Dr Anthony Lynham says the state’s renewable energy revolution is helping put downward pressure on electricity prices.
“Queensland has the energy trifecta – the lowest average prices on the eastern seaboard, reliable supply and a planned path to a renewable future.”
QIC GRE managing director Michael O’Brien says the rollout of Yurika’s Smart Connected Solar technology across QIC GRE’s Australian assets will deliver significant efficiencies and large-scale renewable energy supply.
“This renewable-energy-as-a-service approach will provide reliable, clean energy for our centres and our retail partners, significantly lowering the carbon footprint of our Australian retail portfolio and reducing grid electricity consumption by up to 30% across the portfolio.”
The project rollout will be in phases, with all the centres participating in the first stage.
