Located at high elevation in the Strathbogie Ranges, with an average wind speed of 7.6 metres per second (m/s), this windy ridge is an ideal location for the turbine.
The turbine is a Bonus 150/30 Mk11 which has already been operational for 15 years in Denmark. Elgo Estate spent $300,000 purchasing, refurbishing and erecting the turbine at the estate and was assisted by Sterling Wind.
The Bonus 150/30 was chosen because it is a robust and basic turbine, which, with proper maintenance, will still be in service for many years.
The turbine generates over 1,000 kW hours of power per day on average, more than twice the power that the winery uses.
Article continues below…The turbine is grid-connected so excess power can be fed back into the grid, however Elgo Estate has yet to secure a power buy-back agreement with any retailer.
The turbine saves the emission of over 400 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, not to mention the 143,000 litres of water per day that would be required to generate electricity for the winery by burning coal.
Maintaining the turbine has proven to be a cost-effective process, with Elgo Estate staff carrying out routine maintenance under the guidance of Tom Pedersen of Sterling Wind. Any major work is conducted by Sterling Wind.
The main challenge for this project has been connecting the turbine to the Victorian electricity grid and securing a retailer for the excess electricity generated by the turbine.
The fact that the Victorian electricity act does not require retailers to have product available for generators has not helped in this endeavour.
The difficulty in grid-connection and the lack of a buyback agreement has increased the cost of the project to Elgo Estate (which subsidised the entire cost of the project), and will increase the payback period.
With the laws as they currently are in Victoria and the lack of feed-in tarriffs, there are no plans to expand beyond the current capacity.
However despite these challenges, the output of the turbine has been better than forecast and maintenance is becoming easier as Elgo Estate staff become more familiar with the machine.
Elgo Estate has taken a holistic approach to sustainability. Aside from running on renewable energy, water use is strictly controlled, the carbon dioxide generated by fermenting wines is recycled to protect maturing wines from oxygen, and the pressed-out grape-skins left at the end of the winemaking process are also cycled back into the vineyard, enriching the soil with organic matter.
Elgo Estate believes it is its responsibility to preserve the beautiful environment in which the winery is located, and the initiatives it already has in place show that operating a business in a sustainable manner is achievable – and it doesn’t have to cost the Earth!
