Blog - Clean Energy

Torfaen Council has been investing in renewable energy resources since 2011. Energy officer Julian Prosser charts our switch to clean energy. 

The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, to generate electricity, is one of the biggest causes of carbon dioxide emissions around the world.

Renewable energy, generated from natural resources including wind, solar and water, is largely pollution free.  

We first invested in clean energy in 2011 when solar panels were installed at 6 sites to generate electricity for onsite use and therefore reduce the amount of import electricity required.

Since then our renewable energy generation have increased by further 7 solar energy schemes and one micro-hydro electric system in Blaenavon, which generates electricity for the Blaenavon World Heritage Centre.

So does it really have an impact? Well, in 2021/22 the council’s renewable energy systems reduced CO2 emissions by 77 tonnes, which is the equivalent to emissions produced by six UK households, and saved £40,000.

It’s important to note that investing in renewable energy technology also creates local jobs. The installation of solar panels requires electricians, installers, designers, surveyors and often scaffolders, and long-term the systems require maintenance and cleaning.

Solar is the primary source of renewable energy in Torfaen and there are already plans for 19 new photovoltaic systems across the borough over the next two years, ranging from 10kW to 120kW in size and avoiding a further 155 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Besides the renewable energy installations we continue to take steps to reduce energy consumption and cut emissions by switching to LED lighting, installing new heating & lighting control systems and improving insulation across our portfolio of buildings. We are also progressing designs for electric heat pumps at some of our sites to significantly reduce/remove the requirement for burning natural gas.

If you would like to find out how you switch to clean energy and reduce your energy consumption, visit the Energy Saving Trust website: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/. Given the increases in energy costs over the past 15 months there is no better time to look at ways to reduce your gas/electricity consumption.