Western Sydney, like much of Australia, is experiencing an online shopping and parcel delivery boom. This boom in the region is supported by the Kemps Creek Parcel Facility and its massive solar array system that can power 292 four-person homes.
The 1500-kilowatt system has marked its one-year anniversary and generates enough electricity to cover 30 per cent of all electricity used at Kemps Creek, which is the size of 4.5 soccer fields and can process up to 200,000 parcels per day.
The number of online purchases throughout the 46 Western Sydney postcodes the facility services has risen 81 per cent from 2019 to 2023, with the number of households engaging in online shopping rising 21 per cent.
The solar array is on track to deliver a long-term carbon emissions saving of 1680 tonnes of carob dioxide equivalent per year.
Australia Post General Manager Network Operations Rod Barnes says the solar array is set to help prop up the current postal boom in Western Sydney.
“Western Sydney with its booming population was a very strategic point for us to increase our presence and this is paying off in efficiency gains and less on-road time by positioning parcel delivery drivers closer to the homes and businesses they deliver to each day,” Barnes says.
“More broadly, over the past three years in New South Wales the number of parcels we process each day has risen by 305,000 – the result of new facility builds or upgrades at 17 sites. One year on from launch our team is taking pride in seeing such a significant proportion of electricity usage covered by solar.”
Over the 2023 financial year, Australia Post increased its production of renewable electricity by more than 27 per cent as the result of new solar panel installation at facilities. Ongoing, this investment will save an estimated $1 million in operational expenses each year.
Five per cent of the parking spaces at the Kemps Creek facility have EV charging facilities. Australia Post operates that largest fleet of electric vehicles in the country, with 37 per cent of the total fleet comprising of EVs.
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