Several shades of green for Plymouth

Plymouth City Council has installed solar panels on nine of its buildings as one of several energy efficiency measures to secure Plymouth’s place among the greenest cities in the UK.

Latest figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show that Plymouth is one of the best performing UK cities for CO2 emissions; standing at just 4.7 tonnes per person per year.

The first phase of the Council’s solar programme completed in December 2013 and has generated more than 90 megawatt hours of electricity despite a gloomy winter. This would supply an average Plymouth home for over 24 years. Savings from the panels so far total more than £16,500.

Additional installations were brought into service last month, including a 400-panel array at Windsor House and others at Plympton Library and Efford Crematorium.

The Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) co-operative has also launched a solar share scheme which will see residents co-owning panels installed on community buildings across the city. Over 20 schools have signed up to the scheme and £460,000 of shares have been bought.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Brian Vincent, said: “Plymouth is already listed as one of the greenest cities in the UK which is excellent. With all the other exciting projects taking place our CO2 emissions are likely to continue to decrease which will not only benefit the environment, but also generate renewable energy and help people to save money on their household bills.”

It doesn’t stop there – Plymouth Community Homes has also signed up to the scheme and has funded £20,000 worth of solar panels which are proposed to be installed at schools in the heart of communities.

Plymouth Community Homes Chief Executive, Clive Turner, said: “This is just one part of our commitment to the environment – we’re also well down the road to installing solar panels on many of our homes with 500 installations completed so far out of just over 3,000 we’re planning to do.”

In addition to solar power Plymouth City Council, PEC and Plymouth Community Homes have a wide range of energy efficiency projects. These include solid wall installation, old boiler replacement and energy switching.

For more information about these schemes visit www.plymouthenergycommunity.com/invest or call 01752 477550.