Irrigation systems that provide the right amount of water at the right time, through well designed infrastructure can maximise productivity while keeping water and energy costs low.

Phil Szabo from Saturn Engineering Group has conducted a number of on-farm energy efficiency audits during QBEST and in other QFF energy audit programs.

In this webinar, Phil gives a summary of some key findings of some detailed energy efficiency on-farm irrigation assessments.

Phil talks about a number of important pump performance indicators including:

1. kWh per megalitre of water pumped (kWh/ML) which is useful to compare individual pump performance between seasons.

1. kWh per ML per metre of head (kWh/ML/m head), which accounts for friction and lift and is a whole-of-system comparison.

Phil shares 4 recent QBEST case studies in the presentation:

1. An assessment at a Burnett Citrus Farm which irrigated with two pumps in series: a river pump and a booster pump. The audit recommended a detailed irrigation system design review, utilising one pump with a new VSD, and a tariff change. The Tariff change alone will save around $9,500 per year or 7.4% of their power bill.
2. A Western Queensland cotton farm where one electric pump in a pump station was assessed.
   The pump station has 4 x 26” pumps driven by three electric and one diesel motor. The audit found that once the assessed pump is used for 256.8 hours or more per month, then diesel is more cost effective.
3. A north Queensland cane farm where replacing 4,700 metres of existing main line pipe, increasing the diameter of the pipe from 150mm to 200mm would reduce the irrigation required by almost 200kWh/ML. Phil has recommended engaging an irrigation system designer to review the system, as although expensive, the increase in pipe diameter is likely to increase flexibility and provide other benefits to the system.
4. A Cecil Plains cotton farm with an under-performing 85kW submersible bore pump.

The bore pump use is highly seasonally so Phil explains some of the considerations in determining the most suitably-sized solar system for this application.

Phil discusses some good advice on the basics of irrigation including pump and pipe network maintenance, pump selection, sump and suction design, cavitation and pump operation.

He talks about the wider benefits of integrated irrigation system design beyond the electricity bill savings including flexibility, the ability to operate more irrigators at once and potentially increased productivity.

QFF delivered Type 2 and 3 energy audits at 35 large electricity users throughout Queensland as part of the The Queensland Business Energy Savers Transformation (QBEST) initiative. QFF delivered the QBEST Program with funding from the Queensland Government.

There are over 100 energy efficiency case studies from recent energy audits on the ag energy hub Ag Energy Hub - An energy resource hub for Queensland farmers and landholders.