Renewables on farm
Adding renewables can help keep down energy costs on-farm, improve the reliability of your electricity service, and reduce carbon emissions.
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Adding renewables on your farm
Adding renewables can help keep down energy costs on-farm, improve the reliability of your electricity service, and reduce carbon emissions. Government subsidies for solar installations have reduced costs and payback periods, encouraging large numbers of farmers to install solar.
Just like any investment, it’s important to be fully informed before installing an on-farm renewable energy system.
Agrivoltaics
There are many options for traditional commodities to operate alongside solar farming, trials of horticultural produce being grown under specialised panels, as well as livestock grazing show the ability of farms to integrate renewable energy into their operation.
Many solutions are available to allow livestock to graze under solar panels, Cressbrook Station in Qld runs cattle under their 100kw of on farm solar.
While in Western NSW sheep grazing under solar has been extremely successful.
Agriculture Victoria has trialled a dual-purpose farm, with solar panels over a high density pear orchard near Tatura.
Be efficient and reduce costs
The first step when considering on-farm renewables is to make sure your business is already as energy-efficient as possible. By understanding and improving your efficiency, you can reduce the size of the system that you will need to install, saving money and shortening the payback period. To do this, you can commission an energy audit to be carried out by a professional to determine areas where you can make savings, or refer to online resources including:
| Resource |
|---|
| Queensland Ag Energy Hub Renewable and Efficiency Case Studies |
| Dairy Australia’s Energy Saving Tips |
| Australian Pork’s tips for Reducing energy costs on your piggery |
| MLA’s Feedlot Energy Efficiency and Cost Reduction |
| General advice provided by energy.gov.au |
Hosting transmission infrastructure on your farm
Having more renewables in our national energy mix means we need to expand electricity transmission infrastructure. This much-needed infrastructure will need to be hosted on or near agricultural land, because these areas are both expansive and rich with resources for renewable electricity generation. For some farmers, this will represent an opportunity to diversify, secure, and grow farm income, providing a buffer against difficult farming years. For others, transmission infrastructure projects may present issues related to farm access and operation due to new easements or exclusion zones.
FCA acknowledges that community consultation on transmission infrastructure to date has been divisive and generally sub-standard. We’ve been calling for better consultation to ensure that communities understand the impacts and opportunities of transmission infrastructure, can influence the location of new infrastructure, and that community benefits are meaningful and be shared across the region. We believe social licence is essential to ensuring transmission infrastructure projects can proceed.
Watch a FCA Webinar
FCA has created a number of webinars that you might find helpful. Explore our webinars below.
Peter Holding
The Future of On-Farm Power
You’re invited to join our next webinar, ‘The Future of On-Farm Power’. Join us for an enlightening session that combines expert perspectives, real-world experiences, and the opportunity for direct engagement. Stay tuned for more details on this not-to-be-missed webinar as we navigate the exciting future of on-farm power together!
Claire Boyle
Farm Powered
Join us for the launch of our landmark report, Farm Powered: Opportunities for regional communities in the renewable energy boom, which lays out a plan for farming communities to participate in and benefit from the rollout of renewable energy.
We will hear from the report author, Karin Stark, followed by a discussion facilitated by Dr Fiona Davis with Karin and Professor Ross Garnaut.
Claire Boyle
Farming under solar, wind and transmission lines
You’re invited to join our next webinar, ‘The Future of On-Farm Power’. Join us for an enlightening session that combines expert perspectives, real-world experiences, and the opportunity for direct engagement. Stay tuned for more details on this not-to-be-missed webinar as we navigate the exciting future of on-farm power together!
Do you know of a useful resource?
This toolkit isn’t exhaustive and FCA will be adding more resources over time – if you know of another great resource that should be added please send in your suggestions to [email protected] with subject “CSFT Suggestion”.
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