Data reveals huge amount of renewable energy generated across Exeter

Published: 2 February 2024

Exeter City Council is generating large amounts of electricity at sites across the city as it strives to become Net Zero by 2030.

As the amount of power generated continues to grow, the Council has pledged to release its data on how much renewable energy has been produced quarterly throughout the year.

A number of measures have been taken to maximise Exeter’s renewable energy potential, in line with the Carbon Reduction Plan: exeter.gov.uk/climate-emergency/carbon-footprint/carbon-reduction-plan/

The solar generation data for last quarter, October to December 2023, is:

Total Solar Array – 3.4 MWp

Total Energy Generated - 399,247 kWh

Carbon Savings – 84.64 tCO2e

Equivalent C02 Savings of 12,091 Trees*

*Based on approx. 7kg absorbed per Ash tree per year Source: Treeconomics Valuing Exeter’s Urban Forest Report 2023

Cllr Josie Parkhouse, Lead Councillor for Climate and Ecological Crisis, said: “The City Council has an ambitious target of becoming Net Zero by 2030, and generating and storing renewable energy has a very important role to play.

“We have a large PV capacity across more than a dozen sites in the city and we are looking to expand to more sites in the future. Feasibility studies are taking place to examine the best locations for future expansion.

“It is part of a range of activity being coordinated by our dedicated team at the Council towards achieving our Net Zero target, which remains a key strategic priority for the Council.”

In total the Council has a 3.4MWp Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) capacity across 13 sites, including:

• Ground mounted 1.2MWp Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) array at Water Lane co-located with a 1MW/2MWh battery storage facility and a connection providing a renewable energy supply to our Operations Depot at Exton Road to support the electrification of the Council’s fleet, completed in January 2023.
• 124kW PV array installed at Riverside Leisure Centre alongside a small battery store
• Battery storage technology also installed at Matford Centre and John Lewis car park
• Solar PV panels installed on more than 800 City Council homes - around 17% of the Council’s housing stock - as part of a larger retrofit programme installing solar PV, ground source heat pumps, solar domestic hot water and mechanical ventilation heat recovery systems.

The full list of the Council’s current solar sites is: Water Lane Solar Farm, Livestock Centre, Mary Arches Car Park, John Lewis Car Park, Riverside Leisure Centre, Civic Centre (Phases 1 & 2), Materials Reclamation Facility, The Ark Store, Clip ‘n’ Climb Centre, Wat Tyler House, RAMM, Oakwood House and Belle Isle.

For more on tackling climate change visit the Council’s dedicated webpage exeter.gov.uk/climate-emergency/