Nottingham City Council has expanded its green credentials further by installing solar panels at the £16m redeveloped Harvey Hadden Sports Village
The solar system which has been installed in the main car park will produce 50,846kWh/year (67.2KW Peak power) for consistent year round green energy. The energy generated, which will all be used to power the leisure centre, is the equivalent of powering a fridge for 50,846 days, or making just over 2 million cups of tea.
A total 493 tons of CO2 emissions will be saved per year, the equivalent of emissions from 225 cars per year.
The installation has been delivered in partnership with EvoEnergy and Solar Cloth Company.
Solar Cloth Company’s PowerParking solution uses Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) technology, which produces a higher energy yield over time when compared with traditionally used crystalline silicon solutions.
Sustainable energy creation is at the forefront of the council’s vision when investing in its major programmes and housing stock. This solar panel scheme is part of a broader solar delivery programme managed by Nottingham City Council which seeks to install solar panel infrastructure to domestic houses and commercial sites.
The solar panel programme will reduce CO2 emissions and will contribute to the Council plan which states that: The Council has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 26% by 2020 from its 2005 baseline. Nottingham City was the first Council to produce an Energy Strategy with a commitment to increase the capacity of renewable technology across the City.
Nottingham’s solar journey started in 2010 when it oversaw the delivery of solar panels to over 3000 council homes. Since then the council has worked in conjunction with specialist partners to deliver a variety of schemes for the city. This year the Energy Infrastructure Team has become the first local authority service to become qualified solar installers. The city council can now deliver solar programmes flexibility across in-house and external delivery models to better suit the requirements of each project it delivers.
The team have a busy 18 months ahead of them there are another 3,000 council homes, Leisure centres, public and commercial buildings in the pipeline. To support this growth they are currently recruiting for apprentices, which is creating further career opportunities for local people in the renewable energy sector.
Cllr Clark – “Once again Nottingham City Council is leading the local authority green energy agenda. The sun provides an inexhaustible source of energy and it is very exciting that the city’s sites can be used to harness this power to provide green energy for our citizens. Almost 15% of the energy used in the city comes from low carbon or zero carbon sources making Nottingham the most Energy Self Sufficient city in the UK over the next 18 months our solar panel programme will significantly build on this.
Schemes such as this also provide vital funds to the Council which are used to protect front line services.”
Cllr Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture added; “We’re delighted that our iconic facility is environmentally friendly and will contribute to achieving Nottingham City Council’s green energy commitments.”