The maker of Penfolds wines Treasury Wine Estates commences the largest winery solar installation establishment in Australia at its Barossa Winery and Production Centre in South Australia.
Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), the company responsible for well-known wines from Australia such as Penfolds, Wynns, Squealing Pig, and Pepperjack, has reached a significant milestone in its commitment to sustainability.
The panels generate more than 5,500 megawatt-hours of electricity per year. What could be compared to controlling 900 homes, supplementing different systems currently online across TWE’s Australian sites, including Coldstream Hills in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, Penfolds in Adelaide’s Magill, and Wynns in Coonawarra, South Australia.
Chief Supply and Sustainability Officer for TWE, Kerrin Petty, said the investment in transitioning to 100 percent sustainable power was prompted by the urgency to decarbonise TWE’s worldwide operations.
“Our Napa Valley, California installation of 13,000 solar panels will make it the largest winery solar system in the US, generating half the electricity needs for each of our US wineries. It’s all part of TWE’s broader goal to make wine sustainably,” said Petty.
TWE has found a way alternate way to cut its carbon footprint-in 2020 cooling and warming systems manufacturer Seeley International finished its biggest-ever installation of its imaginative indirect evaporative air conditioning system, the Climate Wizard.
At the Barossa site, TWE has also begun construction on a facility for the production of low and no-alcohol beverages. The large machine, which will make use of TWE’s proprietary processing technology, is expected to be operational in early 2024.
Winemakers are able to reintroduce the wine’s delicate flavour compounds to the de-alcoholised wine at the end of the process thanks to the separation and collection of the wine’s flavour compounds. This ensures that the finished product reflects as closely as possible the quality and characteristics of the original varietal.
TWE is not only bottling world-class wines but also the brilliant sunshine of Australia thanks to its unwavering commitment to sustainability.