Turning idle rooftops into clean energy hubs: Stockland's solar success story

Motivated by the glaring missed opportunity of an under-used asset – its rooftops – a Stockland executive has unlocked a huge clean energy initiative for this Australian property leader.

Boasting an innovative approach that enables solar power to be shared across its 50 sites, Stockland is now well on the way to sustainably generating as much energy as it’s consuming while also earning income from the roof space licensed to its renewable energy partner, Energy Bay.  

The inspiration for the solar transformation was Stockland Executive General Manager, Workplace and Enterprise Asset Management, Emlyn Keane. Keane was frustrated that the rooftops across Stockland’s extensive logistics warehouse portfolio were not being used for solar capture.

“It was a missed opportunity, and I knew the time was right and the business was ready given the support from Stockland Managing Director and CEO Tarun Gupta and the Board,” Keane says. 

“You see solar on retail centres because they have a big demand load underneath. The power generated supplies the tenants and they then pay for that energy. 

“By contrast, when you put panels onto a logistics warehouse roof, you'd be lucky to use about 13 per cent of that energy in the facility. The rest is sold into the network where it attracts a lower return.” 

Turning idle rooftops into mini power generators

The CEFC began working with Stockland in 2019 to help the company accelerate the achievement of the decarbonisation goals that have made it a leader in the property sector.

For the CEFC, this is an important demonstration of the innovation needed as we work towards Australia’s energy transition. The property industry has a key role to play in continuing to innovate and push for further decarbonisation. 

Stockland had previously considered building solar farms to help renewably supply the 64,000MWh (equivalent to 50 MW of solar system capacity) the company uses each year. “But this would typically mean putting the energy generation far away from the load, causing inefficient transmission loss,” Keane says.

He says the company had the rooftop space to install its total 50 MWp solar capacity, equating to approximately 250,000 square metres of solar panels, but not the mechanism for optimising its energy use across its portfolio of sites. 

“We realised that if we developed a model to exchange energy between assets, we could be generating as much renewable energy as we're consuming each year,” Keane says. 

“That was our ambition, so we sat down with the CEFC to help us come up with this mechanism.”

Blazing the pathway to net zero emissions

Keane says the solar initiative allows Stockland to substantially reach its goal of achieving net zero scope 2, or indirect, greenhouse emissions.

“It will also cut an estimated 51,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions annually when the 50 MWp solar PV installation has been completed,” he says.

“Additionally, the partnership has the opportunity to further expand and contribute to Stockland reaching our other climate goals, including halving most material scope 3 emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2050.”

In addition to the environmental benefits, Keane says Stockland has achieved lower energy costs – and recurring income – by leasing the use of its rooftops for solar generation.

Innovative partnership pays dividends

Stockland commenced the program in 2020, with a staged rollout of 17 MWp across their portfolio of assets. Then, an industry first partnership between Stockland and Energy Bay helped to unlock the full solar potential of the wider portfolio rooftops. 

After the two companies overcame some challenges on the road to the pioneering collaboration, Energy Bay bought Stockland’s 17 MWp (maximum potential output of power) of solar panels on its shopping centres. 

Energy Bay is now adding another 34 MWp of solar infrastructure and up to 102MWh of batteries to enable inter-asset energy trading from embedded networks being developed at Stockland’s retail, office and logistics centres. 

“We offered to Energy Bay that they install, operate and own the infrastructure, with Stockland guaranteeing to buy the energy,” Keane says. “It’s an innovative approach that is really working for us.”

Putting tenants in the picture

Keane says that to make the final agreement work, Energy Bay became a renewable energy retailer, as well as an installer and operator. 

This has given Energy Bay the right to sell energy to Stockland’s tenants – who are not obligated to purchase their power from Energy Bay, encouraging competitive pricing. 

Another key element of the agreement is its long-term nature that has engendered confidence in the investment – Energy Bay is licensed to run the solar installations across the Stockland rooftops for three decades and Stockland will purchase the power generated for 15 years. 

Stockland is retiring the system generated renewable energy certificates equivalent to the portfolio scope 2 emissions as part of its net zero commitment.

“That means our tenants will be in scope 2 net zero assets at no cost to them,” Keane says.

Keane describes the approach as a “win, win, win success”, despite the initial complexity.

“It feels great now because it's all happening,” he says. “You have to balance negotiations to create a genuine long-term partnership and that involved a lengthy legal process. There were so many things to think about because the technology is constantly evolving, and the agreement was an industry first.”

Stockland eyes storage as its next priority 

Keane says Stockland is now considering how it can expand the scheme to its other asset classes, including residential property, and reduce scope 3 emissions by further supporting its tenants.

There are also plans for additional battery storage so Stockland can further optimise the use of the renewable energy it is generating across its rooftops.

“I believe this approach is super-repeatable and it's exciting to have discussions about its further potential,” Keane says.