The final apartment buildings at Burwood Brickworks in Melbourne and the first apartment buildings at Midtown MacPark in Sydney will be among the first masterplanned communities in Australia to integrate a carbon neutral energy solution. Delivered by Real Utilities, certified 100 per cent renewable energy will be supplied through an embedded network.

Real Utilities has been contracted to supply energy to all apartment units at Burwood Brickworks, with the final two buildings set to welcome residents in mid-2023. It has also secured a contract to supply energy to the first five buildings at Midtown MacPark, expanding its residential customer base by approximately 1,000 apartment units.

The energy used in these Burwood Brickworks and Midtown MacPark apartments will not only be Climate Active certified 100 per cent carbon neutral, but it will also be drawn from wholly renewable sources. This shift marks a significant milestone, as Real Utilities will no longer use international carbon offsets and instead rely on Australian renewable energy sources, both on- and off-site, for supplying to customers.

Subject to official approvals, Real Utilities will own and operate an embedded energy network within each building on-site, integrating rooftop solar that supplies the embedded network with certified carbon neutral energy – powering the apartments within the building.

Off-site, Real Utilities has procured large-scale generation certificates to cover its customers’ electricity demands for 2023 with a further seven-year renewable energy certificate purchase agreement. This involves the purchase of 140,000 certificates annually from 2024 to 2030 to fully cover its customers’ projected electricity demands well into the future.

These certificates provide a guarantee to customers that the energy supplied to their homes is generated entirely from renewable sources.

“Since Frasers Property formed Real Utilities in 2017, our strategy has been to progressively decarbonise our energy supply to the point where we no longer require carbon offsets to deliver our promise for 100 per cent carbon neutral energy solutions to customers,” Anita Hoskins, General Manager, Real Utilities says.

“This is now becoming a reality for our newest residential apartment customers at Burwood Brickworks, and will also benefit residents of MAC Residences, the first building at Midtown MacPark, when they move in.

“These homes will be among the first from large-scale masterplanned communities in Australia to be powered by carbon neutral energy without depending on carbon offsets. This major milestone for Real Utilities is also one for the industry, since we now are able to fully achieve renewable energy supply on a community level,” she says.

Burwood Brickworks and Midtown MacPark are masterplanned communities by Frasers Property Australia, of which Real Utilities is the wholly owned licensed energy retailing business.

The Victorian Government recently introduced conditions for new buildings with embedded energy networks. The conditions require 100 per cent of electricity consumed on-site by residential customers to be met from a mix of on- and off-site renewable sources.

While this change took effect on 1 January 2023, Real Utilities’ prior renewable energy certificate procurement meant that Real Utilities was already prepared for the new requirements schedule.

Real Utilities installs and operates its own energy infrastructure such as solar panels, batteries and biodiesel generators and supplies carbon neutral energy to Frasers Property Australia’s residential communities, shopping centres and office assets, as well as Frasers Property Industrial’s assets in Australia. The company, and the energy it provides, are both certified carbon neutral by the Australian Government’s Climate Active program.