ONE of the UK’s largest public solar car ports has been created at Leys Pools and Leisure Centre in Blackbird Leys.
A canopy over 48 car-parking spaces, featuring more than 350 solar panels, will deliver over 80,000 kilo-watt hours of green electricity to the city council-run centre per year, enough to power about 25 homes.
The £175,000 solar car port, commissioned by the council with support from Fusion Lifestyle, has been installed by 3TiEnergyHubs Ltd.
The project is 90 per cent funded by the Salix Recycling Fund, which match funds public sector organisations in investing in energy efficient technology.
Tom Hayes, cabinet member for Zero Carbon Oxford, said: “I’m thrilled that the Leys Pool and Leisure Centre has become a power station for public good.
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“By installing one of the UK’s largest public solar carports, the council has leapt forward in its journey to become a Zero Carbon Council in 2020.
“By powering our public spaces with renewable energy, the council is able to give our citizens a direct stake in moving to a Zero Carbon Oxford.
"The days of fossil fuels have to be numbered. Our shift to renewable, and especially solar, energy is gaining pace and gives us the opportunity to put into practice the recommendations of our Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change.”
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The £9m leisure centre, which opened in 2015, houses a 25m pool with movable floor, crèche, badminton courts, and more.
Leys Pools also hosts a 122kW solar panel installation on the roof of the swimming pool building which, combined with the car port, provides a total of around 190,000kWh or over 23 per cent of the building’s annual electricity needs.
The council has reduced its own carbon footprint by 10 per cent - more than 900 tonnes - in the last year, with council’s carbon emissions falling by over 40 per cent in the last four years.
The reduction in the last year is the equivalent amount of CO2 produced by a single car driving 2.9 million miles.
Solar energy plays an important role in the council’s decarbonisation.
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The council is now generating the equivalent of 12 per cent of its annual electricity consumption from solar panels on its own buildings.
Alongside the Leys Pools and Leisure Centre, roof top solar panels generate green electricity at Rose Hill Community Centre, Horspath Depot and St Aldate’s Chambers among other sites across the city council estate.
The council has also improved the energy efficiency of its social housing stock through the installation of PV on 214 council houses.
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The local authority said it was responsible for one per cent of emissions in Oxford and added that Oxford University was the largest contributor to the city’s footprint at eight per cent of total emissions.
Council leaders declared a climate emergency at the start of 2019.
Following this the council announced its plans to be the first UK city to hold a Citizens Assembly on the issue – the Oxford Citizens Assembly on Climate Change.
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