Council-owned buildings in Swansea are to be fitted with solar PV installations after councillors gave a community energy project the go ahead on Thursday.
The community renewal energy and enterprise scheme (CREES) was approved at a cabinet meeting yesterday evening and will now select which buildings will receive the solar panels, with 11 schools and Penlan Leisure Centre among those shortlisted.
The cost of the installations is expected to be around £560,000 – most of which is to be funded by grants and other funding initiatives – however the council expects the scheme to generate a surplus of around £270,000 after its 20-year lifespan.
The scheme will also help reduce energy bills and create a number of jobs in the area, something which councillor Clive Lloyd said made for a “potentially very exciting project”.
“Some consultation on the possibility of introducing the scheme in the Townhill, Penderry and Castle wards as well as in Cockett and surrounding areas has already taken place and the feedback has been very positive.
“At the same time, jobs would be created locally to build, install and maintain the solar panels on the roofs of some of our schools and other council buildings in the area,” he said.
The council has said that should the first projects launched by CREES prove successful it would explore a possible wider roll out, incorporating additional council buildings, schools and council houses in the coming years.Council-owned buildings in Swansea are to be fitted with solar PV installations after councillors gave a community energy project the go ahead yesterday.
The community renewal energy and enterprise scheme (CREES) was approved at a cabinet meeting yesterday evening and will now select which buildings will receive the solar panels, with 11 schools and Penlan Leisure Centre among those shortlisted.
The cost of the installations is expected to be around £560,000 – most of which is to be funded by grants and other funding initiatives – however the council expects the scheme to generate a surplus of around £270,000 after its 20-year lifespan.
The scheme will also help reduce energy bills and create a number of jobs in the area, something which councillor Clive Lloyd said made for a “potentially very exciting project”.
“Some consultation on the possibility of introducing the scheme in the Townhill, Penderry and Castle wards as well as in Cockett and surrounding areas has already taken place and the feedback has been very positive.
“At the same time, jobs would be created locally to build, install and maintain the solar panels on the roofs of some of our schools and other council buildings in the area,” he said.
The council has said that should the first projects launched by CREES prove successful it would explore a possible wider roll out, incorporating additional council buildings, schools and council houses in the coming years.