As part of its Green Industrial Revolution, Labour will install
solar power hubs in 2,000 public spaces like libraries, community
centres and one stop shops, saving them an average of £3,000 on
their bills every year.
Facilities participating in the 'Community Solar Hubs' will also
be able to export the electricity they do not use to the grid –
which will provide an income of £1,080 a year. In total, all
public facilities will be £4,080 better off each year, or £8.2
million across all participating facilities.
Given the net financial benefit to public facilities, the
programme will pay for itself in seven years. After 15 years,
public facilities will have saved £90 million on their energy
bills.
Labour’s new Regional Energy Agencies will run outreach services
from these public spaces, to inform the public about how they can
benefit from new programmes like Warm Homes for All, and how they
can access the many training and employment opportunities
associated with Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution.
The Tories cannot be trusted on solar power – having effectively
collapsed the sector in 2019. Since the Conservatives scrapped
the Feed-in-Tariff in April 2019, new solar installations have
almost totally ground to a halt. In the second quarter of 2019,
there was 98 per cent less solar installed than the average rate
in 2015.
This follows Labour’s announcement at conference to install solar
panels on hospitals to save the NHS in energy costs.
, Shadow BEIS
Secretary, said:
“Labour wants the Green Industrial Revolution to benefit every
community.
“Solar panels will make our community spaces greener and cheaper
to run. And dedicated outreach teams in every community will
provide information on how people can benefit from home upgrades
to make them warmer and cheaper to run, and how they can access
the hundreds of thousands of new green jobs and training
opportunities we are creating.
“At this election, the choice is clear – this is our last chance
to take action to protect future generations or allow the Tories
to accelerate our planet’s destruction.”
, Shadow Communities and Local
Government Secretary said:
“Installing solar panels on the roofs of community buildings will
not only save councils money, it will reduce the emissions
produced in our communities.
“Sharing information in our libraries, community centres and one
stop shops on how residents can access Labour’s Green Industrial
Revolution will reinvigorate our community buildings, making them
hubs of the future.
“Labour will bring real change to our communities for the many,
not the few.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The programme will cost £57.3 million and will be funded out of
Labour’s Green Transformation Fund.
Labour will fund the installation of solar panels in 2000 public
spaces in its first term. Solar systems will average 50KW in
size, costing an average of £28,700 per system from 2020 to 2025.
Saving figures assume the "average" panels are mounted on a south
facing roof in Derby generating 828 KWh per KW of installed
capacity, and that community buildings pay for electricity at the
rate of 14.5p/KWh. It assumes an export tariff of 5.24p/kwh – the
rate before it was cut by the Conservatives.
This policy will reduce emissions by 16,500 tonnes of CO2e each
year - equivalent to taking 9000 cars off the road.
