| Project Detail |
On-site deployment at Mars Petcare Wodonga’s factory of an 18 MW parabolic trough concentrated solar thermal (CST) plant, which uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight to produce thermal energy, which is then stored as pressurised stream.
Need
Industrial process heat accounts for over 20% of Australia’s annual energy use. In terms of decarbonisation, over 40% of Australia’s electricity in now renewable, with many companies having transitioned, or are transitioning to 100% renewable electricity over the next few years. However, for industrial process heat, the level of decarbonisation in Australia, and globally is less than 5%. Decarbonisation of process heat has been extremely challenging, particularly for industrial applications, where gas generated process heat predominates. Mars Wodonga have embraced this challenge of decarbonising process heat by investing in CST as a renewable heat pathway. Deploying proven renewable energy technology like CST supports Mars commitment to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its full value chain by 2050 and 100% renewable energy for site-based operations by 2040. The project is expected to cut Mars Petcare’s Wodonga total natural gas consumption by over 50%, leading to an annual carbon reduction of up to 4,000 tons. This is equivalent to the emissions produce by over 1,200 fuel-powered cars in a year. It is expected that the CST project will avoid approximately 60,000 tons of CO2e emissions over the next 15 years.
Action
The Mars Petcare Wodonga Solar Thermal Plant will meet approximately 50% of the process steam demand at the factory and reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 4,000 t CO2-e per annum, demonstrating a clean energy pathway to generate renewable steam for Australian food and beverage manufacturers and broader industry. |
