Hitachi Global Air Power Australia leads the way in sustainable operations : Hitachi in Oceania

An effective and sustainable site

Sustainability is at the core of Hitachi’s business strategy, and is firmly integrated into its business operations. The company is taking responsibility for ensuring a positive future for the planet and the lives of all the people on it, and is transforming its organisation to strengthen its positive impact on the world.

To help build a decarbonised society, Hitachi has set a target to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the value chain by fiscal 2050. To do this, Hitachi has formulated a Green Strategy consisting of two pillars, GX for CORE and GX for GROWTH, and is putting in place a framework to execute this strategy.

Under GX for CORE, Hitachi is accelerating measures to reduce CO2 emissions in its own business sites, in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 at all factories and offices. It intends to do this by introducing energy-saving and renewable energy equipment and procuring 100% non-fossil electricity across all business sites. Already, Hitachi has made significant progress, with a CO2 reduction rate of 40% from 2010 to 2022, a water use reduction of 27%, and 199 sites achieving zero landfill waste- all ahead of targets. And under GX for GROWTH, Hitachi aims to reduce emissions related to the use of products and services sold, which account for a large portion of CO2 emissions in Hitachi’s value chain.

So, when it came time for Hitachi Global Air Power Australia’s Perth branch to relocate to a new, purpose-built facility, the team rose to the challenge in order to build a facility that dramatically reduces CO2 emissions and helps Hitachi’s local and global operations deliver on these critical environmental targets.

Hitachi Global Air Power has operated in the region for more than four decades, and its new cutting edge site is located on 7500 square metres in Wattle Grove, 15 kilometres southeast of Perth’s CBD and near freight lines, the airport and major arteries connecting Perth’s metropolitan area to regional and rural customers.

Sustainability: a multi-pronged approach

When designing the site, the Hitachi team led the way on energy efficiency and sustainability, seeking out and delivering innovations wherever possible.

Firstly, when it comes to power, the approach is to generate as much as they can onsite, and offset anything that’s not. The facility has a 100kW solar panel system on the roof and a 30kWh battery, similar to the solar systems already included at the Melbourne, Townsville, Mackay, and Brisbane branches. They use the battery to reduce reliance on grid-sourced energy when the sun goes down.

As well as this, the site is aims to reduce energy consumption where possible, and offset any remaining emissions. It’s also reducing the use of liquid fuels by upgrading its sales fleet to electric vehicles and fitting charging stations.

Some of the sustainable features were developed in partnership with the industrial estate itself, such as the innovative wastewater handling system. This system treats wastewater using bacterial-based biodigesters, discharging it into plant beds across the estate rather than sending it into the main city sewage system. Wastewater generated by businesses across the entire estate is treated this way, completely sustaining the site’s plant life.

The green features extend to the office spaces too, with energy-efficient lighting and climate controls, fully insulated walls and plenty of natural light and fresh air.

Partnership with the Industrial estate Image

Enhanced service to customers

As well as being sustainable, the new site boosts the work of the entire team, which includes service technicians, warehouse and parts coordinators, sales managers, and section heads. The new branch covers a much larger footprint than the previous site, increasing service, support, and manufacturing capabilities, and facilitating more efficient, personalised solutions to the markets Hitachi Global Air Power services across the state.

This centre offers an air end exchange service, meaning that customers have the option of either having their air end repaired, or alternatively they can trade in their old air end for a new one.

When the used air ends come in, they are either remanufactured, reused, recycled or repurposed. This process saves valuable natural resources like iron ore, as well as the energy used for making new air ends. In this way, Hitachi Global Air Power Australia’s Perth branch is a key contributor to the circular economy.