The QFF Energy Savers team recently travelled to the Darling Downs to conduct site visits and check in with program participants. They headed to Savina Lane Wines near Stanthorpe, which produces single vintage handcrafted wines, grapes onsite and has a cellar door. It is irrigated nine months of the year depending on rainfall and water is supplied from an on on-site irrigation dam and is replenished by rainfall.
It is a small site consuming 7,500 kWh per year at a cost of $2,700. The farm usually produces enough grapes for 12,000 bottles per year but this has been significantly reduced due to the drought. Their current energy benchmarking is 1kWh per bottle of wine. The new pump will allow for vineyard expansion and will be more efficient than the current pump. This had a payback period of 22 years, due to the low consumption recorded during the drought, though is expected to be better. A switchable real time energy meter has also been installed on the pump circuit allowing monitoring of energy consumption and switching of the pump from a mobile device at any location.
A solar system for the cellar door has been installed and projected to save 100 per cent of their energy costs. This also allows for future growth of the vineyard and more electricity use in normal non-drought conditions. This would have a payback of 5.4 years.
Post implementation benchmarking is predicted to be 0kWh/bottle of wine. Measurement and verification will be completed in the coming months.