d’Arenberg officially launched its new solar photovoltaic (PV) generator this month. The 200 kW solar PV generator is the largest installed on a South Australian winery.
The solar system will generate around 20-30% of the electricity use of d’Arenberg’s manufacturing process and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the site by more than 181 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide per year – a 30% reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions. This installation of this system was made possible by the assistance of a grant from the Commonwealth Government Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Research and Tertiary Education.
d’Arry Osborn, third generation owner, can still recall the day when electricity was connected at d’Arenberg in 1951. “When I first started working we had Clydesdale horses to plough the vineyards, we didn’t even have a tractor, and we used generators run by kerosene. I never thought that one day we would produce our own electricity.”
The Osborn family have owned and operated the d’Arenberg property at McLaren Vale for over 100 years, and the goal of the current custodians is to pass on a sustainable business to the next generation. d’Arenberg has already invested in a number of projects with environmental benefits:
– recycling 100% of wastewater on site
– involved in the McLaren Vale Sustainable Winemaking Program
– introducing organic practices to vineyards
– reducing fuel use by running sheep in its vineyards
– signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant with packaging reduction and recycling programs in place.
Additional green measures, such as a refrigeration monitoring system, LED lighting and insulation, and setting aside significant areas of land to preserve the regions biodiversity, are also being considered.
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