Tesla Powerpack for Auckland’s Redoubt Road Reservoir

A Tesla Powerpack to store solar electricity for night-time use will be installed at Redoubt Road Reservoir in Manukau as part of Watercare’s drive towards solar energy for its Auckland water and wastewater network.

The installation is expected to see a 75% reduction in grid use.

Watercare has installed 400 305W solar panels at the Pukekohe Wastewater Treatment Plant to create renewable energy in the first project of its kind for the organisation. The panels, commissioned in February, help power a pump station to send wastewater about a kilometre away to be processed and should eliminate nine tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Two other solar energy projects – including the Redoubt Road Reservoir and the Wellsford Wastewater Treatment Plant – will be installed and should be running later this year, Watercare chief executive Raveen Jaduram says.

“Watercare is committed to operating in a sustainable way. It’s at the heart of what we do, and this is our first foray into solar energy. It’s an exciting landmark,” Jaduram says.

The panels, provided by Mercury Solar, are expected to bring up to $20,000 savings annually.

Watercare also recently launched its climate strategy, aiming to become a low carbon organisation and adapting it to be more resilient in a changing climate.

It’s also aiming to convert 30% of pool fleet cars to electric vehicles where possible by the end of this year and to have net zero emissions by 2050, reducing operational greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and infrastructure construction emissions by 40% before 2025.