Solar panels will cut harmful emissions and energy bills at Harpenden Leisure Centre
A project to equip Harpenden Leisure Centre with solar panels to reduce harmful emissions and cut energy bills has been completed.
More than 170 panels, covering around 400 square metres, have been fitted to the south facing roof of the centre.
It is estimated the panels will cut emissions by 18 tonnes of CO2 a year by generating 93 megawatts of electricity.
That amounts to 12.5% of the centre’s needs and will provide a significant saving of some £24,000 a year on energy bills.
St Albans City and District Council owns the centre which is managed by its leisure contractor Everyone Active.
They applied for a Sport England grant to help finance the project and were awarded £173,000 from the Swimming Pool Support Fund, supported by the National Lottery.
Builders TJ Evers, based in Tiptree, Essex, were awarded the contract to install the panels with the work now completed and the scaffolding removed.
Councillor Helen Campbell, Lead for Leisure, visited the site to inspect the panels along with executives from TJ Evers and Everyone Active.
She said:
This has been a major construction project and I was delighted to see the impressive results.
Harpenden Leisure Centre has been a wonderful success story since opening four years ago. It was always our intention to acquire funding for solar panels to add to the buildings environmentally-friendly features.
One of our priority projects is tackling the climate emergency by reducing emissions and this is one of the many actions we have taken to do that. It also means that the centre’s energy bills, which have risen steeply since its opening, will be significantly reduced.
James McNulty, Everyone Active’s Contracts Manager, said:
We're delighted to see the solar panel installation completed at Harpenden Leisure Centre.
This renewable energy solution perfectly aligns with Everyone Active's Net Zero Strategy, and we're proud to work alongside St Albans City and District Council to advance our shared environmental commitments.
The panels represent a significant step forward in our sustainability journey while ensuring the centre remains an energy-efficient facility for the community.
Alan Evers, Managing Director of TJ Evers, said:
We are delighted to have successfully completed the installation of solar panels on the leisure centre in Harpenden for St Albans City and District Council. This project is an important step in supporting the Council's sustainability goals and cutting carbon emissions.
Our team worked diligently to ensure the installation was delivered on time and to the highest standards, minimising disruption to the leisure centre's operations. The new PV system will not only help reduce energy costs but also contribute to the wider goal of making public facilities more environmentally friendly.
As a building contractor dedicated to driving forward green initiatives, we are proud to be part of this important development. We look forward to continuing our work with St Albans City and District Council and other partners to deliver sustainable solutions across the region.
Photos: top, Cllr Campbell, far left, with, left to right, Alan Evers, Managing Director of TJ Evers, Chloe Ledger, Harpenden Leisure Centre Manager, James McNulty, Everyone Active’s Contract Manager, and Tristan Luckman, Contracts Manager for TJ Evers.
Notes to editors
The National Lottery
National Lottery players raise, on average, £30 million each week for projects all over the country. In total £38 billion has been raised for Good Causes since The National Lottery began in 1994 and more than 535,000 individual grants have been made across the UK, the majority (70 per cent) of which are for £10,000 or less, helping small projects make a big difference in their community!
Sport England
Sport England is a public body and invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport. It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active - like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.
