A South East Queensland chicken meat farm with eight sheds found an energy audit to provide helpful guidance about where to spend their capital investment on the farm.
A South-East Queensland nursery has implemented a 19.89kW Solar System to offset grid power following their QFF Energy Savers audit.
A Mareeba banana farm is on track to save 45% off their power bill for one of their pump stations with a new variable speed drive and a tariff change recommended in the Energy Savers audit. They are also getting more even watering and expect to cut maintenance costs!
An energy audit recommended replacing a 75kW pump with a 45kW pump and Variable Speed Control. Also, eliminating some right angle bends from the pipes at an adjacent 4kW pump will allow it to deliver 1kL of extra water per hour.
The farm has implemented a lighting upgrade, Power Factor Correction (PFC) and a 30.4kW Solar PV system to achieve annual energy savings over $14,700. The lights and PFC offer a payback period of under 3 years, with the PV payback around 5½ years. The Pump VSD and pressure transducer once implemented will allow the pump to operate at its Best Efficiency Point.
The audit recommended optomising the VSD speed to reduce friction losses, balancing efficiency with crop requirements. This no-cost project is saving the farmer nearly $20,000 per annum with a reduction of 19% energy consumption.
This detailed case study shows how a comprehensive audit and collaboration between the auditor and local refrigeration specialist have significantly reduced cold room operating costs with annual savings of almost $20,000 and a payback period of a year and a quarter. Refrigeration energy consumption and demand have been almost halved.
Two stages were removed from a seven-stage pump which reduced the flow rate but improved the combined efficiency by 25%. The pump demand has been reduced by 12kW and even with increased running time, running costs have reduced by $1,200 per year with a payback period under two years.
The Audit recommended a new, smaller pump which increased water flow by 1.1ML/day and improved combined efficiency by nearly 30%. The pump upgrade has been completed by the farmer even though the payback period on energy cost savings alone was estimated at over 9 years.