Industry
Hospitality
Holistic Energy Procurement Solution
- Offers sought via competitive tender
- Over $30,000 variance between highest and lowest offers
- Customer commercial solar system designed and installed producing $24,000 in savings
Agnes Water Tavern
The team at Agnes Water Tavern have looked at the options for installing a commercial solar system a few times in the past, but there were competing projects to consider and relatively low electricity bills meant that the payback period or return on investment was not an appealing prospect.
Fast forward to today and the cost pressure from rising electricity costs meant that their annual energy expenditure was one of the largest costs for the tavern.
After hearing Spinifex Energy’s presentation at the 2024 Queensland Hotels Association‘s Symposium the directors made contact asking if we could help with trying to optimise their cost of energy and assist with management of their procurement process, including a commercial solar system.
Agnes Water Tavern is a family-owned venue offering warm and inviting atmosphere where locals and visitors alike can gather and enjoy delicious meals, refreshing drinks and live entertainment.
The results of our work produced $100,000 in savings on their electricity supply contracts within the first year of our completed works.
The challenge
Agnes Water Tavern, like many hospitality venues at present, are experiencing rising costs of operation brought on by higher salaries and higher input costs and operating expenses.
Challenges for the team included having questions answered like:
‘Will we still receive any government subsidies for a solar system?’
‘Given our location in Queensland will the structural integrity of the system be engineered?’
‘How can we confirm the investment is going to yield us a good return?’
‘What will our electricity rates look like in 2 and 3 years time?’
Spinifex Energy approached this project with these questions in mind and came up with a holistic energy procurement strategy that covered all the bases.
The results
Our innovative approach to energy procurement involves taking a long-term view of energy expenses and aims to opportunistically improve them over time. Our services involve regular contract and tariff reviews and, where possible, we lock in savings for our clients when they are presented. This is exactly the approach we took for Agnes Water Tavern’s energy procurement process.
In addition, we saw the useful roof space would allow for a 100kW solar system that wouldn’t redact from the aesthetic appeal of the venue while generating $24,000 in annual savings on their current energy costs.
Via a competitive tender process, we secured Agnes Water Tavern an approximate saving of $78,000 for their 2025 electricity supply agreements, with a 3-year contract term locking these savings in for another 3 years.
Summary
A fantastic result for Agnes Water Tavern with some meaningful savings found by conducting a competitive tender for their electricity costs and installing a commercial solar system.
Ongoing electricity supply contract reviews and long-term forecasting is now a service that Agnes Water Tavern will enjoy as part of the services offered to Spinifex Energy clientele.
