Tonbridge Swimming Pool in Kent has begun installing an 80kWp rooftop solar array to power the building with cheap renewable electricity.
Installing the 180-panel array follows a recent audit of emissions conducted by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, which found that over half of its total greenhouse gases are produced by its leisure centre.
“Once fitted, these solar panels will help us reduce our environmental impact considerably and enable the generation of clean and sustainable local energy for use by the leisure centre,” said councillor Robin Betts, cabinet member for climate change for Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council.
“We want to lead by example with the steps we are taking in response to the climate emergency. Decarbonising some of our major assets like our leisure centres moves us one step closer to our ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030.”
Kent is continuing to grow its portfolio of low-carbon technologies, both utility-scale and commercial; for instance, at the beginning of this year, Chinese multinational power company Shanghai Electric confirmed that its 100W/100MWh energy storage project in Kent entered commercial operation.
