Home Property Australia Dexus first to embed battery infrastructure in all new industrial buildings

Dexus first to embed battery infrastructure in all new industrial buildings

  • May 01, 2024
  • by Property Australia
Battery installation in the base build of its industrial facilities will deliver forecast energy cost savings of $4.60 per square metre per year

In an industry first, Australasian real asset manager Dexus is installing commercial grade storage batteries linked to rooftop solar panels in all new industrial facilities.

As part of this initiative, the first tranche of battery infrastructure linked to solar panels is scheduled to be a part of four upcoming industrial projects at Dexus’s Horizon 3023, a 127-hectare master planned industrial estate in Melbourne’s western growth corridor, with the first battery spec build to be completed by late 2024.

Dexus Head of Transactions & Development, Industrial, Chris Mackenzie its industrial projects prioritise sustainability and efficiency.

“This battery infrastructure initiative will simultaneously reduce our customers’ carbon footprint and that of our supply chain, while generating significant cost savings for our customers,” he said.

“As part of our development pipeline, we will implement this initiative across more than 1 million square metres of industrial gross lettable area. This new base build specification has the potential to set a new standard for industrial property developers, highlighting the positive role they can play in providing renewable energy solutions for customers and helping them reach their emission targets, one we hope the rest of the industry will follow,” Mr Mackenzie said.

Battery installation in the base build of its industrial facilities will deliver forecast energy cost savings of $4.60 per square metre per year. This represents an average annual $92,000 saving on a typical 20,000 square metre facility and a reduction of 549 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

Dexus said commercial grade batteries will double the effectiveness of solar panels, supplementing power supply overnight, which is incredibly valuable for customers that run 24-hour operations.

Over 50 per cent of Australia’s top 100 industrial and logistics occupiers are aiming for net zero emissions, with nine targeting Net Zero Carbon by 2030 or earlier, according to JLL.

These occupiers prioritise strategies such as boosting energy efficiency (82 per cent), adopting green/renewable energy sources like rooftop solar panels (64 per cent), and slashing overall carbon emissions throughout the building’s lifespan (39 per cent).