Tae Rak (Lake Condah) Aquaculture Centre
We provided electrical, mechanical, hydraulic and sustainability services at Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre in the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape.
The UNESCO World Heritage-listed Budj Bim Cultural Landscape at the heart of Gunditjmara country has sustained life for tens of thousands of years as one of Australia's earliest and largest aquaculture systems.
A key challenge for the new aquaculture centre's new power supply at Tae Rak (Lake Condah) was to avoid long, obtrusive, and expensive overhead power lines back to the grid and the noise and emissions of continuous diesel generators.
Through analysis of energy requirements, including peak demand and considerations for season variances, the project team established the key to achieving the project goal was an off-grid power supply system.
The system includes 99.4 kWp of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV), 60kW/123kW Lithium-Ion Batteries, an energy control system, and a 56kVA standby generator for power resiliency in the event of consecutive low solar/high usage days.
The material selection throughout the building focused on having low embodied energy and a low carbon footprint. The building design is very energy efficient, with attention paid to insulation, double-glazing, sealing of openings, and lighting and appliance selection.
Image courtesy of Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism