The swimming pools at a Bath sports centre are to be heated by rooftop solar photo voltaic panels in a move that will also enable the building to benefit from energy savings while cutting its CO2 emissions.
The array on Bath Sports & Leisure Centre will be paid for by its owner Bath & North East Somerset Council, which secured £173,166 under a government and Sport England scheme that funds capital investment to improve the energy efficiency of public facilities with pools.
Subject to confirmation from a roof survey, up to 212 kilowatt peak (kWp) solar photo voltaic (PV) array will be installed on the central roof area of the centre, which is managed by national leisure and sports centre operator and social enterprise GLL.
The panels are expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by just over 23 tonnes and save £41,000 in energy costs each year.
An estimated 124kWp of electricity is needed to operate the centre’s swimming pools, pictured. Any additional array electricity from the array could be used for air source pumps that the council is considering fitting as part of a longer-term decarbonisation plan for the building.
Cabinet project lead for climate emergency and sustainability, Cllr Oli Henman, said: “We are delighted to have received this funding, which will help us take the next step forward in our ambition to decarbonise our council buildings and generate renewable energy.
“It will reduce the energy consumption of the building and cut the carbon output, helping us to achieve our net zero goal by 2030 and achieve our targets of a minimum of 300MW district-wide renewable energy generating capacity and 12MW installed capacity on the corporate estate.”
GLL partnership manager Barnaby Rich added: “This funding is a huge boost for the leisure centre and we are very grateful for the support provided by the council in helping to secure this significant financial award.
“We will now be able to reduce our operating costs and harness green energy – both crucial measures that align both with GLL’s commitment to ‘respecting the planet’ and the council’s carbon net zero ambitions.”
The government’s Swimming Pool Support Fund is administered by Sport England. Some £20m of National Lottery funding was also made available to complement the government’s £40m capital fund.
More than 700 facilities applied for funding, with the scheme oversubscribed fourfold by value.
