A £250,000 project involving the installation of 1,300 solar panels on the rooftop of a manufacturing company in North Dorset will save nearly 100 tonnes in carbon emissions annually.

The system, at William Hughes Group in Stalbridge, is the third to be completed by CleanEarth under the Low Carbon Dorset funding scheme.

It is the largest single-site array supported by Low Carbon Dorset and comes hot on the heels of Dorset Council securing an additional £5m to extend the carbon reduction programme into 2023.

Adding to CleanEarth projects for Portland-based Print Team and Groveley Precision Engineering in Christchurch, the William Hughes system will generate close to 400,000kWh per year and provide over 25 per cent of the site’s electricity.

Low Carbon Dorset provided £100,000 in grant funding towards the project with William Hughes paying an equivalent forward buying price of just over 3p per kWh for the 25 year lifetime of the system.

That contrasts with the 9p per kWh paid on average by UK manufacturers and between 13p and 17p paid by businesses in other sectors*.

In addition to making big savings on its electricity bills, William Hughes will also save nearly 100 tonnes in carbon emissions every year, helping to fulfil Low Carbon Dorset’s mission to reduce the county’s carbon footprint.

Max Hughes, Managing Director, William Hughes, pictured left, said: “This significant investment in such a large-scale solar panel system makes a strong statement about our company ethos.

“As well as strengthening our environmental credentials, the project is projected to recover the capital costs in six years and will significantly reduce energy costs at the plant.

“Based on our positive experiences, I strongly believe more businesses should follow our example to move to greener and more efficient ways of generating energy.

“We were given a glowing reference by a previous client of CleanEarth and their performance lived up to it.

“From start to finish we received a full measure of support and advice.

“We would certainly recommend CleanEarth to anybody thinking of installing a sizeable array.”

The William Hughes system comprises 1,300 solar panels.

The electricity it generates will help to power the William Hughes factory and offices.

Dr Erik Blakeley, Project Technical Officer for Low Carbon Dorset, said, “Setting up a large roof top photovoltaic (PV) array for a factory is more complicated than it might appear.

“The new loads on the roof have to be considered, the setting up of structures within the organisation to administer the array takes time, and deciding between numerous potential installers in a fair and objective way is not always simple.

“The fact that William Hughes Ltd has stuck to its guns during the Covid-19 pandemic shows a remarkable determination to achieve the very significant carbon savings produced, not to mention the confidence to commit to their large share of the cost.

“It is, therefore, much to the credit of the firm that we are now seeing this large project come to fruition.

“It is very important that more follow where they have led.”

Since its launch in April 2019, Low Carbon Dorset has given out 91 grants worth over £2m and helped save just under 4,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

It was scheduled to run to the end of this year but the additional funding means the two year programme can now run for up to five years.

Grants are available for up to 40 per cent of project costs, up to a maximum of £250,000.

Low Carbon Dorset also provide free advice on energy efficiency and carbon reduction to Dorset-based businesses, community groups and publicly funded organisations.

Ed Lennon, Commercial Manager, CleanEarth, pictured left, said: “I’d urge Dorset businesses to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to implement low carbon energy savings schemes.

“Never has it been more important for businesses to decarbonise and save money.

“With the funding available, payback can be in as little as three years on a 25 year scheme”

*Source: BEIS report, September 2020  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/prices-of-fuels-purchased-by-manufacturing-industry