Solar Success: William Penn Leisure Centre marks one year of green energy
Just over a year ago, 500 solar panels were successfully installed at William Penn Leisure Centre in Rickmansworth. But what have been the benefits since the panels were switched on?, Writes Cllr Jon Tankard, Lead Member for Climate Change & Sustainability.
On 28 November 2024, local contractors Drakes Renewables installed half a thousand solar panels after Three Rivers District Council and Everyone Active, which operates the council’s leisure centres, secured £152,800 from Sports England.
William Penn Leisure Centre is the most significant user of energy in the council’s building estate, accounting for 31% of total electricity consumption. Clearly, something had to be done to make the leisure centre more sustainable for us to reach our net-zero targets.
A year later, we are immensely pleased that we are already seeing significant environmental and financial benefits – with even more expected to come!
In just twelve months, the solar array has saved 95 tonnes of carbon emissions – the weight of up to 13 African elephants and the equivalent of planting 130 trees. The solar panels also generated enough electricity (200 MWh) to power 70 homes for a year and has reduced the centre’s electric bill by £31,680.
Building on this success, the council recently approved plans to extend the initiative, with solar panels set to be installed on South Oxhey Leisure Centre next year, which will significantly reduce bills and save a projected 772 tonnes of carbon emissions over the lifetime of the panels.
We know the leisure centres are very important to our communities, so we must keep these facilities as economically sustainable as possible to operate so they can be enjoyed by future generations. Adding the solar panels is the first key step to ensure the centres will continue to support the local communities as the panels will assist in making our publicly accessible leisure centres resilient from potential price shocks, which we would otherwise face if we continued to rely on fossil fuels.