Connetics office now powered by solar

29 March 2023 at 9:11 am

The Orion Group now has a fully operational solar panel system on the roof of its Connetics Islington office, which at peak will provide sufficient power to offices.

The 304 160kWp PV solar panel system, designed, engineered and delivered by Connetics is connected to a monitoring screen installed and available for viewing. Anyone visiting the building can view the system’s data in real time and see everything from how much energy is being stored through to how much CO2e is being avoided.

“By exploring technologies like this, we're building the Group’s capability to feed into the energy transition, which is suffering from a shortage of skills. The current thinking is that we'll need to deliver 3GW of utility scale solar nationwide in the pipeline before the end of 2030. This allows us to be in a better position to support the energy transition,” says Orion NZ Energy Solutions Architect Keith Scoles.

“At the same time, we will increasingly see our customers move toward renewable initiatives of this nature. Delivering this project helps us to get a deeper understanding of the performance, along with technical design and installation needs for solar energy systems, informing future impacts we may see on our network.”

Connetics is already CarboNZero certified, and installation of these panels will help the Group continue to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

“It was exciting to be involved with this project from concept through to the final commissioning. This project involved leveraging the Group’s wider capabilities from Connetics Design & Engineering, Supply & Logistics, delivery partners and the newly established Orion Energy Advisory team,” says Connetics Head of Design and Engineering James Rouse.

Orion Group has a goal of achieving a 50% reduction in operational emissions from its 2020 levels by 2030. These solar panels will potentially reduce the Group’s emissions by approximately 20 tonnes of CO2e per year, roughly equivalent to the emissions generated by seven long haul flights from Christchurch to London.

“Orion Group has made a commitment to decarbonisation. We adopted the early electrification of much of our fleet and have been experimenting with biodiesel, as just two examples. This is another important step in our sustainability journey,” says Keith.

Photo supplied by Connetics