Following the installation of a 1.5 MW solar plant at their commercial property in Horsley Park, Sydney, Frasers Property Industrial has entered the domain of energy retail by selling carbon neutral electricity to their tenants.
As a strategic business unit of Frasers Property Limited, Frasers Property Industrial develops and manages industrial and logistics facilities, warehouses and commercial offices in Australia and Europe.
With an aim to become net-zero carbon by 2030 across their properties, the company is committed to reducing their carbon footprint with many whole of business sustainability targets that include achieving 5 Stars on the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) by FY24, having all new projects certified using third parties to relevant green building programs from FY21, and getting 80% of owned and managed assets certified by FY24.
Towards achieving these sustainability goals, Frasers Property Industrial constantly explores solutions that can deliver direct and tangible benefits to their customers and reduce total occupancy costs.
For their Horsley Park property, the company engaged leading solar engineering specialist Smart Commercial Solar to design, install and commission a 1.5 MW rooftop solar plant. Installed in just 12 weeks, the solar power solution was split into three 500 kW subsystems to meet the site’s metering and electrical infrastructure. This would also allow the site to be separated into three different tenancies, if required in future, with each tenancy having its own solar system.
Smart Commercial Solar’s solution comprised of 12 FIMER PVS-100 three-phase string inverters, which were installed and commissioned on a custom-built inverter station. A helicopter was utilised to airlift over 3,700 405W Trina solar panels onto the rooftop of the building where they were installed and commissioned.
Elaborating on their selection of FIMER inverter technology for the installation, Smart Commercial Solar managing director Huon Hoogesteger explained that the FIMER PVS-100 was a perfect fit for the MV (medium voltage) system size of the project. It could also be easily installed within the inverter station that was specially designed and engineered by their team, he said.
“We know we can count on FIMER to support us throughout the life of this system based on previous experience. FIMER has been a strong partner in the past. They are a great choice for large commercial applications,” Hoogesteger added.
The high power density dual-stage topology of FIMER’s PVS-100 inverter technology reduces the number of inverters required for a project, as the inverter enables stronger energy production. The property owner benefits through faster installation times, lower installation costs and reduced maintenance costs in the long term. FIMER’s Aurora Vision Plant Management Platform additionally allows the entire system to be monitored and managed remotely.
FIMER Australia’s country manager Jason Venning said, “Smart Commercial Solar is dedicated to delivering quality solar installations for their customers such as the Frasers Property project. We are proud to have a long history in supporting them by providing FIMER’s leading inverter technology and expertise.”
The 1.5 MW rooftop solar plant will produce more than 2 gigawatts of energy annually, helping reduce carbon emissions by over 1500 metric tonnes per year. The solar plant has not only contributed to Frasers Property Industrial achieving a 5-star Green Star rating for the Horsley Park property but also enabled them to retail carbon neutral electricity to their tenants through Real Utilities, their own energy retail company.
