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: 6238 2741
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Our Ref: 10-45-01KG:KG
13 February 2015
Energy Strategy Submissions
Department of State Growth
GPO Box 536
HOBART TAS 7001
Via Email:
Dear Sir/Madam
ENERGY STRATEGY SUBMISSION - CITY OF HOBART
The City of Hobart is pleased to provide comment on the Tasmanian Energy Strategy “Restoring Tasmania’s Energy Advantage”.
The City has been engaged in energy efficiency since late 1999 when it was the first Tasmanian council to undertake programs to reduce its carbon footprint and improve its energy use. These have been successful with the City reducing its carbon footprint by over 70% between 1999 and 2010 and reducing its overall energy use by about 10%.
More recently the City has endorsed a corporate energy reduction goal of 35% by 2020 from 2010 levels, having achieved a 17% reduction in overall energy use since 2010. It is vigorously progressing this through its Energy Savings Action Plan, a comprehensive and staged program to improve the energy efficiency of its assets; a copy of the Plan is provided for information. The Hobart and Glenorchy Street Lighting Replacement project is currently underway and is planned for completion by June 2015 saving about 1,500 MWh per annum across the two councils.
The City has also initiated a number of community programs to assist households to reduce their energy use and better understand how their household uses energy, including the Home Energy Audit Toolkit program which has been expanded to every Tasmanian council. It is also investigating the development of a Sustainable Building Program for the commercial sector, particularly for small to medium enterprises which
have largely been bereft of such programs and where there have been market failures.
The following comments are provided in response to draft Strategy actions that are relevant to the Council’s services, assets and functions.
Yours sincerely
(N. D. Heath)
GENERAL MANAGER
Attachment A: Comments on the Tasmanian Energy Strategy
Attachment B: City of Hobart Energy Savings Action Plan
Number / Action / TimeframeImplement a program aimed at improving the energy efficiency of
11 / Tasmania’s existing building stock and that reduces energy bills for / 2015/16
Tasmanian vulnerable households.
Improve customer information to assist customers in understanding what
13 / drives their energy bills and ensure they have the basic information / 2015/16
required to evaluate retail product options.
Comment 1
The City supports actions 11 and 13 and notes that it already has programs that could compliment and be integrated into the proposed Tasmanian Government actions.
The City, under the auspices of Think South (formerly Southern Tasmanian Councils Authority) developed the Home Energy Audit Toolkit (HEAT) which is available free to borrow from every Tasmanian council. The kit assists households to understand how they use energy and provides easy and cost effective hints on how to reduce energy consumption.
The City in partnership with the Launceston City Council has recently completed a Tasmanian Government grant to develop a DVD to accompany the kits expanding its reach to residents with poor literacy skills and/or visual/hearing impairments.
Additionally the City is partnering with Kingborough Council to develop Take it Home, based on the HEAT kits. The project has developed curriculum materials for Primary [Yr 5 & 6] and Secondary [Yr 8 & 9] students. A pool of 20 kits will be available for schools in southern Tasmania to borrow for 1 term to a year, from the City of Hobart.
The opportunity to partner and value-add to these programs would be welcomed and also ensure that existing effort and resources are not duplicated and provide leverage to further this action.
It is considered that Action 11 contains two separate objectives and that this action could perhaps be split into two actions, one being a program aimed at existing building stock and a separate action to address vulnerable households, which may involve changing the way these households use energy, which may not necessarily involve physical works to the building stock.
Number / Action / Timeframe12 / Provide information on the efficient management of energy for / 2015/16
businesses and households.
Comment 2
Please refer to Comment 1 above
This action provides an opportunity for the development of information packages that could be included in the HEAT kit targeting small retail businesses to assist in better management of their energy use. This would require a review of the information within the kits and development of information and actions specific to the typical needs and circumstances such as lighting, hot water services, heating and cooling (i.e. fridges and freezers etc).
The Council would welcome the opportunity to collaboratively develop such materials and support for small businesses with the Tasmania Government.
It is considered that for this action to be effective implementation needs to be active rather than passive, i.e. there should be face to face contact or similar methods to achieve an interactive approach rather than publishing material to a website and/or leaflets.
Number / Action / Timeframe
Investigate the case for introducing Environmental Upgrade Agreements
14 / to enable commercial building owners and tenants the opportunity to / 2015/16
improve productivity through energy (and water) savings.
Comment 3
The City of Hobart resolved at its meeting on 15/12/14 to investigate the development of a Sustainable Building Program based on Environmental Upgrade Agreements (also known as Environmental Upgrade Finance).
Following preliminary discussions it determined to establish, in collaboration with the Tasmanian Government, a technical working group to investigate a pilot program for Tasmanian councils. It has also committed up to $10,000 (subject to the same amount being provided by the Tasmanian Government) for a segmentation study and business case for the Tasmanian local government context.
The City looks forward to furthering these investigations with the Tasmanian Government.
Number / Action / Timeframe20 / Undertake a pilot program to help Government and private sector / 2015/16
vehicle fleets reduce their fuel and operational costs.
Comment 4
The Council has a range of measures in place to ensure that its fleet is cost effective, safe and fuel efficient. These include the inclusion of fuel efficiency as a criterion in the purchase of new vehicles and plant, regular maintenance, regular monitoring of fuel consumption and driver training in fuel efficient techniques. The Council is also trialling a range of fuel efficient and alternative fuelled vehicles including three hybrid diesel trucks, five compressed natural gas fuelled trucks and a plug-in hybrid car (Holden Volt).
The City would welcome any further information, involvement in pilot programs or the like that could assist it to further reduce its fleet fuel consumption and associated operational costs.
Number / Action / TimeframeDevelop a heat map of Tasmania’s electricity network which identifies
30 / areas of spare network capacity, for use as a planning tool by / 2015/16
prospective developers.
Comment 5
The City supports in principle such an initiative and assumes that this will be centrally available on the LIST and be consistent with and reflective of the Southern Regional Land Use Strategy and current program of planning reform being undertaken by the Tasmanian Government.
Number / Action / TimeframeInvestigate improvement of local planning processes (in consultation
with the Local Government Association of Tasmania and the Tasmanian
32 / Planning Commission) to include consideration of the impact of / 2016/17
developments on energy networks. This could include greater
information sharing and co-operation between local councils and
network entities.
Comment 6
The City supports such an initiative in principle and assumes that it will be undertaken in concert with the current planning reform program that is underway with the Tasmanian Government.
Number / Action / TimeframeAssess the impacts of additional renewable generation (wind,
35 / photovoltaics and other forms of renewables) on the Tasmanian / Ongoing
electricity network.
Comment 7
The City supports investigations into impacts of renewable energy generation on the Tasmanian electricity network.
The City notes that in 2010 - 2012 it undertook detailed investigations for the development of a wind farm to offset energy use at both a local government and/or community level. A decision was made by the City not to proceed with a wind farm at that time due to the significant costs and external expertise required, along with concerns including uncertainty as to its social licence and other wind based projects being planned at the time. The investigation did cover impacts on the Tasmanian electricity networks and concluded that any project could be connected to the grid however, there would be transmission line extension and transformer costs. To this end it would be useful for further project planning by the community that information about preferred locations for connection to the grid was available to enable such opportunities to be identified.
Details of the City’s investigations are available at:
Number / Action / Timeframe44 / Design and implement a small-scale electric vehicle demonstration / 2015/16-
program / 2017/18
Comment 9
The City has a plug in hybrid electric vehicle (Holden Volt) that forms part of its fleet and is used for inspections by Council Officers. It would be willing to participate or provide a case study for such technologies should such an initiative be progressed.
Hobart City Council
Energy Savings Action Plan
2014-17
Introduction
This Energy Savings Action Plan (“Plan”) has been prepared with the objective of planning the identification, scoping and implementation of energy saving initiatives for the City’s operations.
The coverage of the Plan includes all of the City’s direct energy use including electricity, diesel, petrol, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas and compressed natural gas (CNG). It does not include consideration of embodied energy (ie energy used by others in making and providing goods and services to the City).
The overall energy consumption of the City’s operations has reduced from 97,000 gigajoules in 2009/10 to 80,300 gigajoules in 2013/14, largely as a result of projects and measures taken by the City to improve energy efficiency. It is noted that a gigajoule is a unit of energy being 1,000 million joules. For comparison, a car with typical mileage and engine size will use in the order of 40 gigajoules per year, while a four person household with electric heating and hot water on average uses about 25 gigajoules per year.
The graph below shows the City’s annual energy use during the period 2008/09 to 2013/14.
Annual Energy Use (gigajoules)
100,000
95,000
90,000
85,000
80,000
75,000
70,000 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14
Financial Year
The major energy source used by the City is electricity, which comprised 65% of the total energy use in 2013/14. Liquid fuels, including diesel and petrol, used in vehicles and plant make up about 33.7%, with the remaining 1.3% being natural gas used in CNG trucks, in buildings with services connected to the reticulated natural gas system and bottled LPG.
The cost of energy to the City is about $3.3 million per year or about 3% of the annual budget.
The major energy using activities are building operations, street lighting and vehicles & plant. The following table lists broad categories of uses and amount of energy for each category.
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Site/Activity / Energy Use in 2013/14Vehicles and Plant / 28,035 / GJ
Hobart Aquatic Centre / 17,183 / GJ
Street Lighting / 13,201 / GJ
Civic and Administrative Buildings / 10,433 / GJ
Multi-Storey Car Parks / 5,378 / GJ
Community Halls and Parks / 2,938 GJ
Depots, Waste Management and Nursery / 1,746 GJ
Public Space Lighting and Fountains / 1,278 / GJ
Total / 80,292 GJ
Vehicle and Plant is the largest energy use category and much of the use is by trucks and heavy plant, including refuse and recycling collection, civil maintenance, civil construction and Waste Management Centre operations activities.
The Hobart Aquatic Centre is a high energy user due to relatively long opening hours, the high heating requirements and significant mechanical plant systems such as circulating pumps and fans.
Street lighting is largely managed and operated by Tas Networks and includes about 5,000 lights on roads around Hobart. Some street lighting (including in the CBD) is on metered supplies and is owned and operated by the City.
The remaining 27% of energy is used in the City’s other buildings and facilities.
Past Energy Efficiency Measures
Opportunities for energy efficiency and the net reduction of the City’s energy use are continually being identified and assessed as to whether they would provide a worthwhile economic and environmental return to the City.
Rather than a comprehensive audit of all sites the focus to date has been on identifying the major opportunities, either those providing significant levels of savings or having quick pay back periods.
Numerous measures have already been taken to reduce energy use by the City’s operations. These have included:
•Audit of the Hobart Aquatic Centre by consultants to identify energy saving opportunities (which are being implemented as resources permit);
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•More energy efficient lighting technology is being used in buildings and public area lighting (such as LED lights, which are now becoming cost competitive and have been gradually increasing in efficiency);
•Improved lighting controls, including daylight harvesting and motion sensors;
•Upgrades to heating and air conditioning systems, with improved controls and more efficient technology;
•Installation of heat pump hot water systems to replace electric hot water services and replacing circulating hot water services with local systems reducing piping heat losses;
•Use of natural gas to replace LPG for cooking and to provide instant hot water;
•Improved insulation of buildings;
•Better control of fans using variable speed drives at the Hobart Aquatic Centre;
•Installation of power factor correction systems to reduce maximum demand;
•Increasing fuel efficiency standards of vehicles and plant, being used as part of the selection criteria for new purchases;
•Purchase of diesel light vehicles to replace petrol, where suitable models have been available;
•Trialling of new fuel efficient technologies, such as diesel hybrid trucks and a plug in hybrid electric vehicle;
•Replacing plant with energy efficient alternatives such as solar powered variable message signboards with LED lights;
•Reduced use of vehicles and plant, by improvements in efficiency in the way services are delivered (for example changes to litter bin collection arrangements has reduced collection vehicle mileage and saved over 150 GJ/year);
•Driver education programs aimed at more fuel efficient driving techniques; and
•Closure of some energy inefficient operations.
Scope of the Action Plan
This Plan describes the actions proposed to be taken in the period covered by the 2014/15 to 2016/17 financial years to further reduce energy consumption. It will be updated on an annual basis as a rolling three year plan as new opportunities are identified and investigations into project viability are completed.
The Plan describes the proposed works, estimated cost, projected cost and energy savings, expected completion date and some brief explanatory comments.
Fleet – Trucks, Cars and Plant
The first area considered in the actions table below is that of Fleet, including vehicles and heavy plant. In this area it can be difficult to identify timelines, costs and savings for energy saving initiatives.
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Some of this difficulty is due to the availability and cost of new fuel efficient technologies being dictated by manufacturers. The City can only select from those technologies which are made available in the Australian market place.
Another issue is that fuel usage is linked to the services provided by the City to its residents and changes to the services that are provided and the levels of service can affect fuel consumption. Fuel usage will typically be only one of a range of issues that need to be considered in changes to services and the way services are delivered.
Buildings
Buildings are the total largest energy use area of the City’s assets. The City owns a wide range of buildings including the Hobart Aquatic Centre, civic and administrative buildings, multi-storey car parks, depots, community halls, sporting facilities and public conveniences.
Past energy saving initiatives have focused on the higher energy use buildings and facilities as these have had the most scope for energy efficient improvements.
The Plan includes further actions on these buildings, but also identifies actions for some of the lower energy use sites and consideration of some new technologies and their potential applicability to many of the City’s buildings.
Street and Public Lighting
Most of the lighting energy use is related to street lights, the majority of which are owned and managed by Tas Networks. With Australian Government grant funding, much of the standard suburban street lighting in the City is to be upgraded to energy efficient LED lighting with energy savings of about 2,500GJ/yr.
It is expected that remaining street lights will undergo energy efficient upgrades over the next five or so years, as cost of LED technology lowers and suitable models for higher illumination utility type lights become available.
The City also has some of its own street lighting, mostly in the Central Business District and this was upgraded to LED in 2014, being funded through an Australian Government grant.
There is also a range of public lighting, in parks, public open spaces, car parks, sportsgrounds and facade and flood lighting and these are considered in the Plan. Several sportsground lighting projects are in progress or planned, energy efficiency will be an important criteria in the selection of the lights.
Mechanical Plant
The City also has a range of mechanical plant, such as pumps for fountains and other pump stations, heat pumps at the Nursery propagation house and there are various heating, pumping, air conditioning and ventilation equipment items within buildings.