We’re excited to announce that we’ve completed the final stage of work to install our roof top solar system at Gympie Central. This exciting new source of clean, renewable energy will help us power the centre and create greater energy resilience for the entire Gympie community.

Nearly 2,500 solar panels have been installed, which if laid end-to-end equals about 5kms worth of continuous solar or the distance from Gympie Central to the Golden Nugget Truck Stop! And even better, the 920 kilowatts (MW) capacity system is energised and already generating power.

This exciting project for Gympie Central created new jobs during the construction period and is an opportunity for the centre to minimise the environmental impact. We produce enough on-site energy to power the equivalent of 200 Queensland homes for a year.

We’ve joined the growing number of Vicinity centres able to utilise clean, renewable energy from their solar installations to help power the centre, reduce our reliance on the national grid and make a positive environmental impact for the local community.

The addition of solar at Gympie Central also brings Vicinity even closer to the expected 31 MW total capacity in 2019. This will provide annual energy generation of over 48,500 MWh - enough to power the equivalent of over 8,300 Queensland homes for a year.

The new solar installation at Gympie Central is another demonstration of our ongoing commitment to, and investment in, renewable energy. By embedding innovation, such as solar, in our portfolio we are striving to place renewable energy at the very heart of our communities.

Our large-scale national solar program also includes several innovation firsts for the Australian retail property sector, including Australia’s first retail battery, energy block chain trial, bifacial solar panel and solar glass trials. Combined with our industry-leading solar program, these initiatives will help deliver intelligent energy destinations across Vicinity’s national portfolio.