Townsville Egg Farm
Energy Savings: 11% | Cost Savings: $43,720 | Capital Cost: $68,600 | CO2 Savings: 115 | Project Status: proposed
Industry:
Eggs
Location:
Dry Tropics
Pump Type:
Not applicable
Irrigation Type:
Not applicable
Technology:
Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, Motors and Fans, Demand Management, Tariffs
The farm, near Townsville, has 8 poultry sheds that have a total usable floor area of 11,200m2 and house approximately 275,000 birds per annum. Of these sheds, two are used as rearing sheds and another two are left open for free-range laying. The site also includes a feed mill, farm office, grading and packing floor and stores.
Energy consumption is dominated by the ventilation and feed systems, with an annual energy consumption for the site of approximately 1,340,000 kWh at a cost of $315,000.
The sites energy consumption consist of:
- Lighting system
- Ventilation system (circulation fans, tunnel)
- Manure collection belts
- LPG recirculating heaters
- Refrigeration system (air conditioning)
An energy audit showed how adding energy efficiency improvements to the required renovation of the farm’s ventilation and cooling systems can lead to energy and cost savings by investing an additional $68,600 over Business as Usual (BAU) projected investments. The recommendations explored in the audit included:
- Tariff Restructure to reduce billing costs.
- Replace ventilation fans with more efficient units.
- Management control system in air conditioning.
- Upgrade air conditioning and refrigeration systems to have head pressure control.
Table 1. Energy savings from audit recommendations
| Recommendation | Energy savings (kWh) | Cost Savings ($) | Emission Savings (tCO2-e) | Payback Period (Years) | Cost to Implement ($) |
| Tariff Restructure | – | 2,500 | – | – | – |
| Ventilation Fan replacement | 91,000 | 30,020 | 74 | 1.6 | 47,600 |
| AC control system | 21,600 | 4,700 | 17 | 1.0 | 4,600 |
| AC and Refrigeration upgrades | 29,200 | 6,500 | 24 | 2.5 | 16,400 |
| Total | 141,800 | 43,720 | 115 | 1.8 | 68,600 |
By installing the recommendations in the audit, the business could reduce energy consumption by 11%, and costs by 14%, with carbon emission savings of 115 tCO2–e per year.
Table 2. Pre and post audit energy consumption and costs.
| Audit Metric | Pre-Audit | Post-Audit | Reduction (%) |
| Energy Consumption (kWh) | 1,340,000 | 1,198,200 | 11 |
| Cost ($) | 315,000 | 271,280 | 14 |
An energy audit is a good investment
An energy audit is a great first step in moving a business towards a more efficient future by reducing energy use, costs and Carbon emissions onsite.
The Energy Savers Plus Extension Program was delivered in by the Queensland Farmers' Federation with support and funding from the Queensland Department of Energy and Public Works.
