Featured image credit: Utilita Bowl
A major solar panel installation project has been completed at Utilita Bowl, home of Hampshire County Cricket Club, as the stadium hosted a T20 international between England and Australia yesterday (Wednesday).
Over 1,000 newly installed solar panels were turned on for the first time yesterday, marking the first step of Utilita Bowl’s ambition to become the “world’s greenest cricket stadium”.
Following its completion, the solar photovoltaic system will provide roughly a quarter of the total electricity used by the stadium, including enough to cover entire match days. A total of 381,829kwh will be generated yearly, reducing carbon emissions by 80 tonnes and leading to major savings in electricity costs.
The project commenced in June and has been carried out over the summer months. Utilita Energy acquired naming rights to the stadium back in January as part of a wide-ranging deal with Hampshire.
Earlier in the summer, six electric vehicle charges were installed at the stadium’s on-site Hilton hotel.
Kathy Gibbs, sustainability manager at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said: “It is great to see Utilita Bowl taking this step with this investment in on-site generation of renewable energy.
“The associated reduction of their carbon footprint will contribute to everything they are doing to help tackle climate change – a key challenge for our cricketing community in England and Wales, and around the world. This is also a great demonstration to our community of one of the ways we can all play a part in protecting the game we love.”
David Mann, chief executive at Utilita Bowl, added: “It fills us with pride to officially switch on the solar array here at Utilita Bowl. We set out a bold target at the beginning of our partnership and to see the first major step in that vision realised today is immensely satisfying.
“We recognise the responsibility we have within our community and hope to add to these initiatives in the future to further cement our commitment to being the greenest international cricket venue.”
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