Two local authority-owned leisure centres have received rooftop solar panel installations thanks to funding from Sport England.
Sport England’s Swimming Pool Support Scheme is a national scheme that has thus far distributed over £80 million to improve the energy efficiency of public swimming pools across the UK. Most recently, Workington Leisure Centre in Cumberland has installed a 160kW solar array, while Witham Leisure Centre near Braintree, Essex, has completed a 407kW solar panel installation.
The installation at Witham Leisure Centre is made up of 983 solar panels, spread across solar carports and a rooftop array. RenEnergy supported Braintree Council for the project by designing and installing the solar system, which is expected to generate over 399MWh of energy each year. As a result, the leisure centre will be operating at 34.7% self-sufficiency, which is expected to provide significant savings in operational costs.
Damian Baker, managing director of RenEnergy UK, noted that the company has seen an increase in the number of businesses and local authorities seeking sustainability solutions. He added: “It’s great to see more companies starting to take notice of how seemingly small things can make a huge difference. It’s more than possible to reach environmental targets without reducing the operational efficiency of the buildings we work on.”
Meanwhile, in Cumberland, the Workington Leisure Centre’s new solar array was installed by local solar installation specialists Love Solar. The 160kW array is expected to provide around 20% of the leisure centre’s total electricity demand. Cumberland Council notes that early performance data has shown that during periods of high solar generation, surplus electricity is being exported back to the grid, which provides a useful source of revenue for the centre.
Two other leisure centres in the Cumberland area also received support through Sport England’s funding. Alongside the Workington Leisure Centre, the Sands Centre in Carlisle and Wigton Baths also benefited from the funding injection to improve their energy efficiency; the three sites secured a combined investment of £73,000 from Sport England.
Councillor Anne Quilter, Cumberland Council’s executive member for vibrant and healthy places, called the project “a fantastic example” of how targeted investment can improve the sustainability of local communities. She added: “This installation not only contributes directly to our Carbon and Energy Management Plan, but also aligns with our wider commitment to tackling the climate emergency and building environmental resilience across Cumberland.”
Other local-authority-owned and privately owned leisure centres are also looking to the solar sector to decarbonise. Earlier this month, Nottingham City Council’s Harvey Hadden Sports Village completed the third stage of its solar PV installation, which brings its total solar generation capacity up to 571.5kWp. Onsite solar generation at the leisure centre will meet 46% of its electricity needs, with 74% of the energy generated by the PV system powering the building’s daily operations, and surplus solar energy being used to heat the swimming pool.
Meanwhile, privately owned leisure centres and health clubs are increasingly installing solar PV to decarbonise their operations. In March, health and wellness club operator the Bannatyne Group installed solar panels on the rooftops of eight of its sites thanks to a partnership with Shawton Energy.
