Solar energy to power Rossendale's council HQ

1:00pm Wednesday 5th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

A DEAL is set to be signed which will see Rossendale's 'town hall' pay its way for the next 25 years.

Council bosses are putting the finishing touches to a contract which would see solar panels cover the roof of the business centre at their head-quarters at Futures Park in Bacup.

And if the projections of business director Stuart Sugarman are correct, the £176,000 investment required would generate a £100,000 profit by 2037.

The same principles are curr-ently employed, to varying deg-rees, by local housing associations such as Green Vale and Calico.

Currently the authority has a small array of panels on the Futures Park roof, generating around 2.5 kilowatts of energy.

But under the proposals 100kw would be generated – saving around £13,400 in the first year of operation and rising to around £19,000 by the 10th year.

This equates to around 50 per cent of the present electricity requirement and comes just as the council is coming to the end of its existing energy contract and is facing a possible 15 per cent hike in charges.

Mr Sugarman said in a cabinet report: "The proposed project represents a good opportunity for the council to secure and stabilise a significant part of its future energy budget.

“It would reduce the annual energy bill substantially."

The move should also boost the council's environmental cred-entials with around 1,100 tonnes of carbon estimated to be saved over the life of the contract.

Under the plans the council would enter into an agreement with Schneider Electric, which has carried out the preferred survey of the council offices.

Funding for the investment will come from the council’s capital reserves.

The benefits from such a decision would be twofold, both through a government subsidy, known as the feed-in tariff, and the estimated direct energy bill savings.

Comments (6)

6:59pm Wed 5 Sep 12

HairyBowls says...

lol...another council 'gem'...energy is always free for the council...we the taxpayers fund it! Good PR stunt again...any genuine savings are off set by rising fuel prices anyway, so bills will only get higher whether solar panels are fitted or not.
lol...another council 'gem'...energy is always free for the council...we the taxpayers fund it! Good PR stunt again...any genuine savings are off set by rising fuel prices anyway, so bills will only get higher whether solar panels are fitted or not. HairyBowls

9:36pm Wed 5 Sep 12

spendmymoneywisely says...

Under normal circumstances I would have praised such a far sighted view but the Council keeps telling us it has no money yet suddenly it has found money to have a survey done and to pay for the 'bigger & better' panels . The £100,000 it THINKS it will make by 2037 will be severely eroded by inflation and, in real terms, will probably be less than £20,000 by then but everyone involved will have retired or died before it's proven one way or the other. . All its other projections on financial matters only go up to 2014 so why has it made an exception in this case?. I would suggest that more economic use of electricity would have been a more practical solution but I notice that there is a government subsidy on offer and the Council seems to spend all its time these days applying for subsidies rather than actually trying to budget within existing resources. As a normal householder I know better than to listen to 'sales patter' or to go chasing after grants in an effort to sort out my budgeting problems. Try just turning down the thermostat and wearing wooly jumpers like the rest of us & keep that £176,000 to help Rossendale residents.
Under normal circumstances I would have praised such a far sighted view but the Council keeps telling us it has no money yet suddenly it has found money to have a survey done and to pay for the 'bigger & better' panels . The £100,000 it THINKS it will make by 2037 will be severely eroded by inflation and, in real terms, will probably be less than £20,000 by then but everyone involved will have retired or died before it's proven one way or the other. . All its other projections on financial matters only go up to 2014 so why has it made an exception in this case?. I would suggest that more economic use of electricity would have been a more practical solution but I notice that there is a government subsidy on offer and the Council seems to spend all its time these days applying for subsidies rather than actually trying to budget within existing resources. As a normal householder I know better than to listen to 'sales patter' or to go chasing after grants in an effort to sort out my budgeting problems. Try just turning down the thermostat and wearing wooly jumpers like the rest of us & keep that £176,000 to help Rossendale residents. spendmymoneywisely

10:17pm Wed 5 Sep 12

her from here says...

£176,000 for solar panels this would go a long way to help Haslingden baths stay open
£176,000 for solar panels this would go a long way to help Haslingden baths stay open her from here

10:45pm Wed 5 Sep 12

oracle999 says...

A 55% roi over 25 years is less than a high st bank👎
A 55% roi over 25 years is less than a high st bank👎 oracle999

8:12am Thu 6 Sep 12

eastlancslad says...

That's £4k a year. Nothing really. I don't see any costings for replacing the panels after 10 years, which is what the guys who fit the things say is the life of a panel.
Juggle the figures all you want, this is just another expensive civic pride joy ride.
Anyway, what the hell is a 'projections of business director'? Another non-job?
That's £4k a year. Nothing really. I don't see any costings for replacing the panels after 10 years, which is what the guys who fit the things say is the life of a panel. Juggle the figures all you want, this is just another expensive civic pride joy ride. Anyway, what the hell is a 'projections of business director'? Another non-job? eastlancslad

3:13pm Thu 6 Sep 12

bluebouy says...

her from here wrote:
£176,000 for solar panels this would go a long way to help Haslingden baths stay open
more people using them would help them stay open longer
[quote][p][bold]her from here[/bold] wrote: £176,000 for solar panels this would go a long way to help Haslingden baths stay open[/p][/quote]more people using them would help them stay open longer bluebouy

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