It has been a long, technical and sometimes very fiddly road, but Bathurst Community Climate Action Network has now completed a project that shows a particular means by which large energy users can lower their energy use, reduce power bills and – most importantly of all – reduce carbon emissions.
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In BCCAN we are mostly concerned with raising local awareness of climate change and exploring how we might to respond to it.
Through this particular project, we were able to lend our support to something eminently practical.
Conservation Voltage Reduction is a process by which the voltage running through transformers is set at a lower level to make energy savings.
This would seem a straightforward process but it is actually one requiring very particular expertise.
It works in principle, but how does it work on the ground, in practice?
Are the energy savings enough to be worthwhile?
In this project, BCCAN received a grant ($33,000) from the Office of Environment and Heritage to employ a consultant to work with Charles Sturt University to fine tune the voltage in its Bathurst transformers and take note of the results over six months.
The results were good.
As stated in our grant acquittal report to the OEH, the project “demonstrated significant reduction of carbon emissions from CVR which could significantly contribute to Australia meeting its targets in holding back climate change.”
The data collected shows that CSU could save about $20,000 worth of energy annually through this means.
The results will now be disseminated through academic and energy sector channels.
The project was not just a technical one, but an experiment in how community energy groups might liaise with large end-users in CVR projects as a way of making a little cash for themselves.
This could then be ploughed back into further promotion of energy-savings and renewables.
This particular project could only make tiny step in that direction; future projects, perhaps undertaken by other groups and users in the region, may explore this further.
Many people worked steadily over a long time on this project, particularly Bob Hill and Dr Branka Krivokapic-skoko from BCCAN (who are also associated with the teacher education and business schools at CSU); the people at CSU Green; Essential Energy and OEH and of course, our consultant, Chris Halliday of PowerLogic.
Congratulations to all involved.
