Clayton business signs state's largest Environmental Upgrade Agreement
Published on 02 November 2018
Clayton family-owned business Tibaldi will soon run partially on solar power, thanks to an Environmental Upgrade Agreement (EUA) with Monash Council.
Representatives from Tibaldi, Monash Council and the Sustainable Melbourne Fund signed an EUA on Wednesday 31 October that will see a 1Mega Watt roof-mounted solar panel system worth $1.4M being installed. It is the largest solar EUA in Victoria and the system will result in annual electricity cost savings for the company of around $339,000 per year.
Mayor Paul Klisaris congratulated Tibaldi on its commitment to improve the environmental performance of its buildings that include extensive cold storage and warehouses at its Centre Road headquarters.
“Tibaldi’s commitment shows leadership to the business community in Monash that investing in improving the environmental performance of a business is great for economic performance too,” Cr Klisaris said.
“The company is also an integral part of the hugely important employment area known as the Monash National Employment and Innovation Cluster. We encourage other businesses to follow Tibaldi’s lead and to take advantage of Council’s commitment to support them with the environmental upgrade finance scheme.”
Under an EUA, a business or commercial property owner can apply for a discounted loan called Environmental Upgrade Finance (EUF) for building upgrades that include solar power, energy and water efficiency, and other environmental improvements.
Sustainable Melbourne Fund CEO, Scott Bocskay said Businesses like Tibaldi were taking control of their input costs by installing solar and financing it with EUF.
“Tibaldi has reduced risk associated with the volatile cost of grid supplied energy and used a new source of capital to help their business thrive. By doing good business, their business is doing good,” Mr Bocskay said.
Tibaldi CEO, Greg Ridder said: “at Tibaldi we are always looking at innovation and sustainability of our business, so using the amazing amount of roof space on site for a large scale solar system was an easy decision to make.”
“This will help lower the cost of electricity, provide environmental benefits by reducing the reliance on the grid and also make Tibaldi more competitive.”
Tibaldi employs around 350 people and Mr Ridder said the initiative gave the company confidence it could create more jobs in the future.
Background on Environmental Upgrade Finance
The EUF is a type of long-term low interest loan that the owner repays through their Council rates, then Council transfers the repayments to the finance provider.
Monash Council offers access to the EUF program to assist Monash businesses to save utility costs and improve their economic and environmental performance.
Council operates this service in partnership with The Sustainable Melbourne Fund.
To find out more about securing Environmental Upgrade Finance for your business go to Start & Grow Your Business - Environmental Upgrade Finance.
Media Contact: Jo Robertson 0418 391 979 or email joanne.robertson@monash.vic.gov.au