Zara’s latest stories 🗞️

Floating solar panels at Warrnambool’s Brierly Basin expected to reduce power costs by almost half

Warrnambool is “leading the nation” after becoming home to one of Australia’s largest floating solar installations.

The 1,260-panel array at Brierly Basin is now producing electricity as it floats on the water storage that feeds the city’s drinking supply.

Experts believe there is plenty of scope for the technology to be utilised in other industries.

How does it work? The panels generate more than 600,000 kilowatt hours of renewable electricity each year, using “bi-facial” technology, capturing sunlight from above and reflecting light off the water surface. 

Slashing costs: The system is expected to reduce electricity costs linked to pumping water from Brierly Basin to the Warrnambool Water Treatment Plant by around 40 percent annually.

• Wannon Water managing director Steven Waterhouse said the project would help cut costs and emissions while maintaining reliable services. 

• “Projects like this help us use energy more efficiently and keep costs down,” he said in a statement.

• The floating array will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 600 tonnes each year - the equivalent of taking 130 cars off the road - and supports Wannon Water’s target of reaching net zero emissions by 2030.

The background: Water from Brierly Basin is treated and supplied to more than 19,000 customers across Warrnambool, Koroit and Allansford. 

Work smarter: Nigel Morris is the Chief Strategy Officer for independent energy industry body Smart Energy Council. He told the Brolga floating arrays can generate more power than conventional solar setups.

• “Standard solar panels lose efficiency when they overheat, but the natural cooling effect of water keeps these systems 5°C to 10°C cooler than terrestrial farms,” he said.

• Morris explained this cooling effect, combined with the panels harvesting light reflecting off the water, “boosts energy yields by 15 to 25 percent”.

No small feat: The ability to draw more energy is particularly useful for water utilities, which Morris described as “energy-intensive”.

• “Pumping and treating water requires immense power. With state mandates driving water corporations toward net-zero, floating solar is a natural choice,” he explained.

• “It delivers high-yield renewable energy precisely where the load is needed most, insulating utilities from volatile grid prices.”

The new solar installation’s floating design was chosen because surrounding land could not accommodate a ground-mounted system of the required size - the benefit of the panels shading the water and reducing evaporation from the basin was an added benefit.

Where to next? Morris said the floating solar technology could offer a wide range of uses in other applications, pointing to agriculture as the “next frontier”.

• “Evaporative loss from irrigation storage in NSW and Queensland alone drains 1,320 gigalitres of water annually; saving just 10 percent of that through solar shading represents a $41 million economic boon for crops,” he said.

• While there is no overall data for evaporative loss in Victoria, Agriculture Victoria estimates the average number per dam per year can range from 1200mm to 2000mm. 

• Morris also pointed to heavy industries and mining to install floating solar on industrial ponds to offset diesel emissions.

Future of Camperdown Saleyards site unclear as council votes to decommission 50-year-old facility

For more than half a century, farmers, agents and transporters convened at the Camperdown Saleyards, a facility once considered a hub for “trade, social connection and employment”.

Now, the future of the livestock centre’s land sits in limbo as Corangamite Shire Council formulates a masterplan for ongoing use of the site.

What happened: During last Tuesday’s council meeting, councillors voted unanimously to decommission the former Camperdown Saleyards and adjoining truck wash, paving the way for sheds, yards, ramps, lighting, and fencing to be dismantled and sold.

The background: The decision marks a closing chapter to the facility’s story after the saleyards ceased operations in June 2024, when the Regional Livestock Exchange exited the lease due to the facility no longer meeting the minimum required number of livestock sold each month.

• Following this, council opened the site to expressions of interest for long-term use, but did not receive a “viable proposal”.

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Darcie’s latest stories 🗞️

Extreme weather could cost Victoria $71 billion in infrastructure damage, and Ballarat’s already battered roads are right in the crossfire

Newington local Christian Dymock says the “once in a century” 2022/2023 floods that almost cost him his car are still burned into his memory – and the frustrations have not disappeared. 

Dymock has lived in West Victoria for seven years, and in that time has experienced rising temperatures and increasingly severe weather.

🗣️: “My wife is from Germany and said she’s never seen roads like this,” Dymock told the Brolga.   

The damaging rain and flooding has taken its toll on the region’s roads, carving out potholes and ruining highways that sit in constant need of repair.

Now, a new report has warned road maintenance costs across regional parts of the state could skyrocket, with the changing climate only accelerating the damage.

❓What happened: Victoria’s independent advisory body Infrastructure Victoria has released a report detailing projected costs to roads, rail, energy and health networks throughout the state as extreme weather events increase.

Relevance to West Vic: The report found increased rainfall, flooding and bushfires pose a high risk to regional roads. It stated extreme storm and rainfall events cause heightened damage to road surfaces, leading to excessive pothole formation. 

Read the full story here

"Everybody is skint": How regional Victorian businesses are fighting to stay alive

Almost half of regional Victorian business owners are not paying themselves a living wage as costs continue to put significant stress on rural and regional enterprises, a new report has found. 

❓What happened: On May 26, the Victorian Regional Chamber Alliance (VRCA) released the 2026 Business Health Survey Report. 

What is the VRCA? The VRCA is an advocacy organisation formed by chambers of commerce throughout Victoria, acting as a collective voice for regional and rural businesses. 

What the report found: 

• Businesses feel they are working harder than ever, with minimal signs their efforts will pay off. 

• 65 percent of business owners said they sometimes or never have work life balance.

• 44 percent of business owners said they are not drawing a living wage.

• Nearly 25 percent of businesses surveyed said they may not survive beyond 12 months in the current environment. 

• Most regional businesses have never fully recovered from the post-Covid economic environment, worsened by geopolitical crises, increasing regulatory and tax burdens and prolonged cost-of-living pressures, tightening consumer spending.

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On Your Feed 📱

🐋 Zara was lucky enough to learn about whale migration in the south-west

And I discussed the new inclusion and truth-telling commitments in Glenelg Shire