Roe Highway Logistics Park to be carbon neutral in two years

The $500 million Roe Highway Logistics Park (RHLP) will achieve lifetime carbon neutrality within two years following the award of $95 million in Clean Energy Finance Corporation funding.

The Federal funding will support RHLP to become one of Australia’s first carbon neutral industrial estates. It will be used to install low-carbon concrete in five warehouses to be built at the park in the next 18 months, and to extend solar energy power panels across rooftops at the 56-hectare site.

Hesperia managing director Ben Lisle said the finance may also contribute to the potential export of power back into the South West Interconnected System, pending advances in battery storage and favourable State Government policies for exporters.

RHLP is set to generate 2 megawatts of solar power, but could create up to 17 megawatts through solar panels across all rooftops. After meeting the estate’s own energy needs, a surplus 15 megawatts could be exported back into the energy system – enough to power up to 2,500 homes.

“We are all concerned about climate change, and we are personally willing to do whatever we can to address the problem. We see this as a way businesses should be behaving going forward,” Mr Lisle said.

“This is important to our staff and business owners at the estate, and increasingly important to consumers.”

RHLP has storm water management and wastewater recycling strategies in place, along with double glazing and specialist insulation at tenancies and low-energy lighting and grid-friendly technology such as smart inverters and smart metering throughout the estate. Emissions related to heating and cooling are addressed partly through the planting of more than 4000 native trees on site.

Developed by Hesperia and partners Gibb Group and Fiveight, RHLP launched in early 2019. The estate is currently 75 per cent committed, with opportunities remaining at two large sites adjacent to the WA Government’s new Kenwick rail freight facility.