The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) wants more than moral support from fans — it wants their energy. To be clear, they want their solar energy via a new, Australian-first energy-sharing initiative.
Customers of EnergyAustralia, Melbourne Cricket Ground’s (MCG) electricity partner, are being asked to share their excess solar electricity. It will be used to power light towers, scoreboard screens and more within the stadium’s walls.
Given the immense need (MCG’s annual energy output is the equivalent to powering 4,000 homes per year in Australia), MCC is offering various “VIP” experiences to participants.
Opportunities include kick-to-kick sessions on the turf, stadium tours and chance to take in a match from the premium Jolimont Club.
“With a number of structural restrictions currently limiting the stadium from installing solar panels, this energy sharing program provides a welcome alternative, and I certainly hope that passionate MCG fans will be keen to sign up to the trial to help power the ‘G,'” MCC CEO Stuart Fox said in a statement.
Not only has MCC started this program — it’s working with EnergyAustralia to explore the use of hybrid fuel cells which could reduce the stadium’s greenhouse gas emissions.
They hope the program will provide greater alternatives for all Victorians to use their energy.
“Our partnership will do more than just revolutionize energy at the people’s ground,” Catherine Tanna, EnergyAustralia’s managing director, said in a statement. “There is great potential for applying what we learn and the technology we develop for the MCG to helping households and businesses across Victoria use energy more efficiently, so they save money and help protect the environment. It’s exciting working with the MCG to address some of the big energy challenges Australians are facing.”