Solar car park unveiled at Sydney Markets

NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts today opened a $14 million solar car park extension at Flemington’s Sydney Markets, built as part of the markets’ continued commitment to environmental sustainability.

The 640 kW structure will save 936 tonnes of carbon each year, or the equivalent of taking 522 small cars off the road annually. Along with the other two solar systems on-site, it brings Sydney Markets’ total renewable energy capacity to about 900 kW.

The upgrade improves accessibility for stallholders, employees and the wider community, with a newly installed footbridge from Flemington Station providing safer pedestrian access to the markets and improving traffic flow. The market community will also benefit from an additional 350 parking spaces in the multilevel car park, as well as a 4.5-tonne goods lift.

“In recent years, Sydney Markets has unveiled many groundbreaking initiatives as part of our commitment to sustainability and our community,” said Sydney Markets CEO Bradley Latham.

“By investing in large-scale solar infrastructure, we have improved the market’s green credentials, while reducing its consumption of energy from fossil fuels.”

Latham revealed that the power generated by the car park’s solar system is the equivalent of 257 car parks being efficiently powered each year. The solar installation will also attract large-scale generation credits (LGCs), meaning Sydney Markets can trade renewable electricity generated above the power station baseline to like-minded companies.

“The upgrade is another successful step towards our goal of being the greenest food market in Australia,” said Latham.