Harrogate Borough Council has given approval for 420 solar panels to be installed on the town’s Hydro leisure centre.
The move is part of a wider decarbonisation initiative, which could also see 1,000 solar panels installed at Harrogate Convention Centre.
Council officials said in planning documents that the panels will help to improve energy efficiency and cut emissions at the ageing facility, which replaced the old Coppice Valley pool when it opened in 1999.
It added that the scheme could reduced the council’s annual Co2 emissions by 577 tonnes.
The council successfully bid this year for funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy‘s public sector decarbonisation scheme, which will help fund the panels.
The bid saw the council granted £2.4 million for projects at the Hydro and convention centre.
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A total of £1.8 million will be spent at The Hydro to install the solar panels as well as replace gas boilers with air source heat pumps and put in place new energy monitoring and control systems.
Kathryn Daly, head of place-shaping and economic growth at the council, previously said:
Plans to install 1,000 solar panels on roof of Harrogate Convention Centre“We have ambitious plans to ensure our own operations and buildings will be clean, efficient and have a net zero carbon economy by 2038.
“This government funding provides a significant step to allow us to achieve this.”
Harrogate Borough Council has submitted plans to install 1,077 solar panels on the roofs of several buildings at Harrogate Convention Centre.
The council, which owns the centre, applied for planning permission last week. It’s unclear when the application will be heard or when construction could start.
According to planning documents, the scheme will be fully funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy‘s public sector decarbonisation scheme.
The scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.
The council has appointed French utility company Engie as contractor for the project.
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How the solar panels will look at the top of the Harrogate Convention Centre.
It follows a similar planning application by the council to install 420 solar panels at the Hydro in Harrogate, which was also funded by the public sector decarbonisation scheme.
At the time the council said that it had “ambitious plans” to make sure its operations and buildings were clean, efficient and had a net zero carbon economy by 2038.