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Hot Chooks get Government Grant

Funding to provide a ground source heat pump solution for broiler facility – with aims to reduce reliance on LPG-fuelled heating

 

Power system installer Ground Source Systems will receive government funding to install a thermal ground source heat pump system at a commercial broiler facility in Yanderra, New South Wales.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will provide $318,000 in funding to help the company install a full-scale solar PV and ground-source heat pump system, with gas backup, for heating and cooling at the facility.

The hybrid system will see the installation of a 100-200 kW thermal ground source heat pump system to replace LPG as a fuel for heating and cooling a single shed for housing chickens.

The University of Melbourne is assisting Ground Source Systems on the project by providing data analysis, content generation and knowledge sharing across the sector. 

With poultry sheds requiring both artificial heating and cooling, the annual energy bills for chicken farms amount to about $80 to $100 million in aggregate across Australia and result in emissions of around 1.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, ARENA says.

ARENA chief executive Darren Miller says the project will be an important case study for the sector.

“Heat pumps represent a viable alternative to traditional heating systems in helping to reduce emissions from Australia’s meat and poultry industry,” he says.

“Ground Source Systems is showing what’s possible with the demonstration scale project and we’re hoping that the valuable knowledge gained will encourage even the larger poultry companies to jump on board and look to heat pumps as a viable solution to their energy needs and net zero goals.”

Company owner Brad Donovan says the trial will compare the gas consumed in a control shed to that consumed in a trial shed, with the estimating that solar-powered heat pumps could ultimately reduce emissions by about 1 million tonnes per year.

The system is anticipated to be operational in late August to capture the winter batch of birds at the facility. 

The company will also install 100 kW of solar PV at the site as part of a separate project to continue to reduce emissions there.

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