Tri-generation accounts for 10-15% of power generation in Europe, however due to the abundance of coal and the fact that it is relatively cheap in Australia there is little incentive for Australian companies to adopt tri-generation.
Rooty Hill RSL is currently demonstrating with the help from Haron Robson that registered Clubs can too benefit from this fast emerging technology.
In late 2007 Rooty Hill’s energy supplier advised that the Club was drawing more than 50% of the feeder cable’s capacity from the Rooty Hill sub-station. If the Club was to expand as planned, they would have to pay $1 million for a new cable as well as increased electricity costs.
Unfortunately there was no zero cost option for the Club. Rooty Hill RSL together with the assistance of the Haron Robson team and Ross Warner from Engineered Environments, undertook an extensive investigative process which pointed out that all other options simply postponed the problem. For example, updated plant including new chiller units would reduce power consumption but only by a finite amount and there remained the power supply problem. Investing in an additional diesel generator would solve the back-up problem but the RSL would still be paying more for electricity.
According to Bevan Paul, Chief Operation Officer of Rooty Hill RSL “The tri-generation system ticked all the boxes, it achieved increased back-up power supply, savings in power costs, increased cooling capacity and significantly increased air-conditioning capacity. It also stands up on its own as a commercial return and we are going to be achieving some pretty significant returns on our funds and the payback period is only a few years.”
Including associated project fees, the project will cost approximately $4.2 million and will achieve an estimated average annual 12.5% return over the 15-year estimated useful life of the plant. Stephen Ball from Haron Robson says “Whilst Rooty Hill is a large venue, tri-generation can be considered by any Club. The plant required and the operating model can be flexed to adapt to the needs of the site with different size plant and/or the operating hours of the generator”.
Bevan Paul said “For many clubs, tri-generation is not only an immediate savings from a financial perspective but it’s an immediate saving with respect to the environment and certainly worthwhile for clubs to consider this technology for both these reasons”.
