The Viva Energy Group has entered into a power purchase agreement with Spanish firm Acciona to power its oil refinery from a wind farm.
In an announcement Tuesday, Viva Energy said that the agreement would secure pricing on roughly 100-gigawatt hours per year of electricity from Acciona's Mt Gellibrand Wind Farm.
This equates to approximately a third of the yearly electricity needs of Viva Energy's Geelong Refinery, which was constructed in 1954 and can refine 120,000 barrels of oil daily.
The Mt Gellibrand facility consists of 44 turbines and has a capacity of up to 132 megawatts. It was completed at the end of 2018, with the power purchase agreement between Viva Energy and Acciona starting in January 2019.
"Access to reliable and affordable electricity is critical for our refining operations which need to operate continuously and be able to compete with large scale refineries overseas," Scott Wyatt, the CEO of Viva Energy, said in a statement Tuesday.
Wyatt went on to add that the company's research had "shown that renewable energy is very competitive with existing sources of generation and can be a viable and sustainable part of the energy mix for a business like ours."
Sustainable Energy
A wind farm is helping to power an oil refinery in Australia
Key Points
- The Mt Gellibrand wind farm consists of 44 turbines and has a capacity of up to 132 megawatts.
- Viva Energy's Geelong Refinery was constructed in 1954 and can refine 120,000 barrels of oil daily.
Oil refinery at Corio, Australia silhouetted at sunset.
Richard I'Anson | Lonely Planet Images | Getty Images
