Watercare has set the ambitious energy target to be energy neutral by 2025 at its two large wastewater treatment centres in Mangere and Rosedale. With land in Auckland at a premium, the challenge was how Watercare could achieve this goal within its facility boundaries.
Vector Powersmart proposed an innovative solution to design and construct a floating 1 megawatt (MWp) solar photovoltaic (PV) array (New Zealand’s largest) on the Rosedale wastewater treatment plant to avoid using valuable land for the project.
This allows Watercare to meet up to a quarter of the site’s energy needs from renewable, solar electricity. With the current solar array occupying less than 3% of the Rosedale treatment pond, there is plenty of room to expand to meet future growth.
New Zealand’s first floating solar farm produces the same amount of electricity annually as would be needed to power approximately 200 homes for the year. This goes a long way towards helping Watercare achieve its 2025 energy neutral goal for the Rosedale wastewater treatment plant.
“Together with the plant’s existing biogas generation plant, this new floating solar means we will be operating at near-zero emissions with room to expand as the city continues to grow. We’re really pleased Vector Powersmart has been able to provide this solution as it makes great use of the catchment lake at the plant”.
Raveen Jaduram - CEO Watercare
