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Australia Post powers Western Sydney with solar

Australia Post powers Western Sydney with solar

One of Australia Post’s largest and newest solar array systems – supporting the Kemps Creek Parcel Facility – has generated enough electricity in its first year of operation to power 292 four-person homes.

As Kemps Creek marks its one-year anniversary, the 1500-kilowatt solar system, delivered in partnership with industrial property group Goodman, has generated enough electricity to cover 30 per cent of all electricity used at the facility.

More than 3400 panels positioned on the facility’s roof support Australia Post’s Kemps Creek operations including new, state-of-the-art sortation equipment and charging stations for electric vehicles.

Constructed to meet the needs of Western Sydney’s growing population, the massive 33,680 sqm Kemps Creek facility is the size of 4.5 soccer fields and can process up to 200,000 parcels per day with a maximum hourly throughput of 20,000.

Across the facility’s delivery catchment – an area comprising 46 Western Sydney postcodes – the total number of online purchases grew by 81 per cent from 2019 to 2023. The number of households shopping online grew by 21 per cent over the same period, a figure reflecting both population growth and eCommerce trends accelerated by the pandemic.

Kemps Creek’s huge solar array is on track to deliver a long-term carbon emissions saving of 1680 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent per year by avoiding the use of grid-sourced electricity.

Like many homes, the solar system at Kemps Creek exports some electricity to the grid at times of peak generation, while drawing from the grid at times where solar is not produced.

Five per cent of all car spaces at the facility now have provision for EV charging, while motion-sensor LED lighting is also installed to boost energy efficiency.

“The facility’s cutting-edge technology was benefitting not only the environment but customers in one of Sydney’s major growth corridors,” says Rod Barnes, Australia Post Executive General Manager Network Operations.

“Western Sydney with its booming population was a very strategic point for us to increase our presence and this is paying off in efficiency gains and less on-road time by positioning parcel delivery drivers closer to the homes and businesses they deliver to each day.

More broadly, over the past three years in New South Wales the number of parcels we process each day has risen by 305,000 – the result of new facility builds or upgrades at 17 sites.  One year on from launch our team is taking pride in seeing such a significant proportion of electricity usage covered by solar,” Barnes added.

Over the 2023 financial year, Australia Post increased its production of renewable electricity by more than 27 per cent as the result of new solar panel installation at facilities. Ongoing, this investment will save an estimated $1 million in operational expenses each year.

Australia Post operates the country’s largest fleet of electric delivery vehicles – 37 per cent of our total fleet and nearly half of all delivery rounds – and continues to procure more.

To read more about Australia Post, click here.

Australia Post’s sustainable warehouse is the sixth entry to the MHD Sustainable Warehouse Competition, making it eligible to be nominated for the coveted MHD Sustainable Warehouse Competition Award, which will be handed to one lucky winner at Prime Creative Media’s Mercury Awards dinner gala on Wednesday September 18 — all part of the largest logistics conference in Australia, MEGATRANS.

To learn more about the Mercury Awards, click here.

To learn more about MEGATRANS, click here.