The irrigation energy audit recommended replacing a 45kW line-shaft pump with a 37kW submersible pump to achieve an 3% energy savings and carbon emission reductions of 5.6 t CO2-e per annum.
The irrigation energy audit recommended replacing a 45kW line-shaft pump with a 37kW submersible pump to achieve an 3% energy savings and carbon emission reductions of 5.6 t CO2-e per annum.
The farm produces cotton on 1,860 hectares in the Cecil Plains area and uses flood irrigation to inundate crops approximately every 10 days. Dams are located on-site for the storage of rain runoff and the farm has a licence to access a defined volume of water each year by flood harvesting overland flow. The available water supply for irrigation changes each year depending on rainfall and the volume of water in the dams. The irrigation system uses several bore pumps that transfer water to open channels around the fields, which is then transferred to the cotton using siphons. The majority of the electricity consumption on-site is for the pumping.
The farm owner is not proceeding with the recommendations in the energy audit in the short term, as the payback period is not financially viable. The operation of the pump is still sound and the recommendations in the audit would be considered further if the pump performance degraded significantly or failure occurred. The owner indicated the audit was still beneficial as it assisted with developing further knowledge on strategies available to reduce energy consumption in irrigation.