Mildura Council Driving Emissions Reduction With Renewables And EVs

Victoria’s Mildura Rural City Council has taken delivery of three electric vehicles that will be charged using 100% renewable energy.

While the brands and models weren’t mentioned, it looks like the Mayor’s vehicle (pictured above) is a Kia Niro, which according to Kia has a range of 455 kilometres (WLTP – World harmonised Light vehicle Testing Procedure). A crossover SUV, the Niro boasts a 64kWh battery, 150kW of power and 395Nm of torque.

Councillor for Environment and Sustainability Jodi Reynolds said the new locally-purchased EVs would slash running and maintenance costs while driving down emissions. Council’s fleet of vehicles has a significant carbon footprint, representing approximately 25% of the organisation’s overall emissions excluding landfill.

The electricity required to charge the vehicles will be sourced from 100% renewables after Council’s recent inclusion in the Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO). Mildura and 45 other Victorian councils pooled their electricity buying power in a long-term contract with Red Energy supplying renewable energy generated from wind farms in the state. This arrangement is not only slashing emissions, but reducing participants’ electricity costs.

Charging stations for the new EVs have been installed at Council’s Deakin and Madden Avenue service centres, and there are also public charging stations in the region that can be used. Just recently, Ouyen’s EV fast charging station became operational and Ms. Reynolds notes there are now 23 public EV fast chargers across 21 cities and towns in regional Victoria.

“This network of fast chargers means there are charging points every 100 kilometres between Mildura and Melbourne.”

Mentioning a recently published report outlining climate costs and risks to councils, Mildura Mayor Jason Modica said all levels of government need to boost climate action and reduce emissions this decade.

 “Fortunately, we’re well on the way to doing that, and this week’s announcements are the latest in a broad suite of measures and actions we’ve taken as a Council to do our part,” he said.

Council declared a climate emergency in February 2020, adopted its Towards Zero Emissions Strategy 2021-2050 in June this year and established a Community Action Group in July that is working with Council to develop a community climate emergency plan.

Solar Energy In Mildura

Mildura Rural City Council’s renewable energy isn’t confined to the VECO deal –  so far more than 600 kilowatts of solar PV has been installed on Council buildings, with further installations to come.

In addition to Council’s efforts on the PV front, the tally of small-scale solar power systems in Mildura continues to rise as more households and businesses install panels.

More than 3,621 small-scale systems had been installed by the end of August this year, up from ~3,300 at the end of January. If you live in the area and want to slash your own electricity bills (and your household’s carbon emissions), have a chat to one of these SQ-recommended solar installers in Mildura.

There are also more than a dozen large-scale (100kW+) solar installations in the Mildura Rural City LGA, the largest by far being Kiamal Solar Farm. Situated approximately 3 km north of the township of Ouyen, stage 1 of the project is 200 MW (AC)/ 256 MW (DC) capacity and comprised of 720,000 Canadian Solar panels.

Stage 2 of the development will add a further 150 MW (AC)/ 194 MW (DC) capacity, and there’s also a 50 MW/50 MWh battery storage facility in the pipeline.

Kiamal Solar Farm is supplying thirteen of Victoria’s water corporations with cheap, clean electricity as part of a deal made in 2019.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/mildura-renewables-ev-mb2185/