Sector: Agribusiness

Address: 1750 Sidebottoms Rd, Katandra West, VIC 3643

Environmental upgrade: 20kw solar panel system and 40kWh LG Chem Lithium battery

Key drivers: Reduce cost and mitigate risk

Interaction with Sustainable Australia Fund (SAF): Engaged SAF to finance an Environmental Upgrade Agreement under a fixed rate arrangement

Problem

When your business relies on round-the-clock power, how do you protect yourself from blackouts?

The storage and processing of milk takes a lot of energy and water – and when agribusiness relies on energy, the last thing farmers need is a power outage. Unfortunately, this was the case for Kevin Minogue from Minogue Dairy Farm in Shepparton. In November 2017, a blackout led to loss of production over a period of 6 weeks when milking was at its peak. To make matters worse, his livestock experienced health issues associated with the inability to milk them.

Solution

Kevin used the opportunity to rethink how the dairy farm could overcome power outages in the future and decided to look into solar energy and battery storage. Not only would this provide a battery back-up should an outage occur, it would also provide cost savings to the business over time.

Process

After attending a seminar, Kevin reached out to Sustainable Australia Fund for advice and support. After he was comfortable with the project, SAF then financed the solar system and battery through the local council.

“The process for applying was really simple actually… It was just a phone call. Sustainable Australia Fund sent me the required paperwork and virtually did all the correspondence with the council; it was really straightforward.” – Kevin

Kevin also explains he felt supported during the process. “There was communication on email, which I found convenient and easy. A couple of times we had questions, we would shoot them an email and a reply would come straight back. I was really comfortable with the process.”

Outcome

With financial impact to the business his biggest concern, Kevin calculated whether the figures would stack up. The great news is that after installing the new solar system and battery storage, the farm is 90% self-sufficient and Kevin is feeling confident in the future. No longer will he need to worry about significant disruptions to business operations.

Download the Case Study.