Powering the pumps

There’s no question that the Australian landscape can be an unforgiving one. While the treasures buried in thousands of kilometres of wide brown land delivered a resources boom that lasted decades and kept the economy afloat, finding convenient access to the required fuel supplies that keep the wheels of industry turning is often difficult in such remote locations.

Caltex Australia has taken advantage of the abundance of solar energy available in the outback to facilitate development of what is believed to be a world first. Supplying 24-hour access to diesel in remote parts of Western Australia’s Pilbara region has become more feasible with the construction of fully transportable, solar-powered retail fuel outlets at two key locations.

The Caltex Australia sites are located in iron-ore town Tom Price and Onslow, known for its wool exports. Both sites are more than 1300 km from Perth, are not connected to mains power and rely on the abundant solar energy of the region, along with on-site battery storage technology.

The Australian company is pioneering the environmentally friendly initiative to further extend the reach of its National Truck Network — said to be the largest truck refuelling network in Australia — comprising 200 dedicated truck stops and 300 truck-friendly sites across the country.

Caltex Network Development Manager for Western Australia Leon Calvetti said diesel customers driving between remote locations across the state were benefiting from the availability of the fuel whenever they needed it.

“The biggest challenge of supplying fuel in remote parts of Australia isn’t getting fuel there — after all, we have fuel storage at the site and a great logistics team able to make regular deliveries,” Calvetti said.

“The obstacle is powering the pumps so the fuel can get into the customer’s tank — it’s very expensive and inefficient to run a generator when there are only a handful of customers every day.

“It’s also difficult to locate staff in the middle of the Pilbara many hours’ drive from the nearest major town. By creating what we believe are the world’s first fully solar-powered fuel facilities, we can efficiently provide diesel in some of the most remote locations of Australia.”

The other benefit of these sites is that they can be relocated to meet fluctuating levels of demand. The nature of resources extraction across a vast area like Australia means that today’s major sites will often become relatively unused in the future. If there is no longer the same demand, the portable nature of the depots means that an entire facility can be simply and quickly relocated elsewhere. The whole site is easily loaded and transported on the back of a truck.

“The whole design is tailored to Australian conditions, given the abundant sun and the long distances between service stations.”

Calvetti says that, unlike many fuel outlets in rural Australia, the innovative Caltex sites could offer diesel 24 hours a day via a card payment system.

“These sites offer the same high-quality diesel available elsewhere across our national network and customers can access it at any time. But in such remote locations, with only a limited number of customers driving past, don’t expect all the typical services available at other Caltex sites.

“While these no-frills facilities won’t provide a pie, a can of soft drink or ice-creams, they will help keep drivers of heavy transport and four-wheel drive vehicles supplied with the diesel they need to get to the next town for a well-earned rest,” he said.