Battersea Fire Station is now partly powered by solar energy after the London Fire Brigade (LFB) installed photovoltaic panels at the station.
It is anticipated that the panels, which are made and installed by Solarcentury, will produce at least 10% of the electricity used by fire station staff – amounting to 8,000 kWh per year.
The combination of panels and a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system, which will produce hot water for station staff, will mean the fire station reducing its carbon footprint by 13 tonnes a year.
In Wandsworth borough, the Brigade also installed a solar thermal system at Tooting Fire Station in January 2006.
This contributes to the Brigade being ever closer to reaching a target of reducing carbon emissions – its carbon footprint - by 1,900 tonnes by 2010 from 1990 levels. To reach this ambitious target, the Brigade is also bringing in a new fleet of fire engines that meet EU emissions targets and is replacing inefficient lighting and boilers across the Brigade.
The installation in Battersea is part of the second round of installations by the Brigade. In the first round, starting in 2005, LFB made history in 2005 by being the first Brigade in the UK to install solar panels on a fire station – at Richmond. Further solar panels have been installed at Acton and wind turbines are in place at Hayes and Wennington fire stations.
In this second round, a further 16 fire further stations are set to receive a range of microgeneration installations, such as wind turbines and solar panels.
Val Shawcross, chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, said: “We are committed to tackling climate change and our programme of installing renewable technologies is continuing apace, with more and more fire stations now being greener and far less reliant on traditional energy sources. The London Fire Brigade is really leading the way in the public sector on renewable energy and I am very proud of our work so far.”
Commenting on the London Fire Brigade Green Programme, Dr Jeremy Leggett, Solarcentury CEO, said: “The London Fire Brigade is setting the standard in the public sector for low carbon buildings, and they should be widely commended for leading the field. Photovoltaic technology is more widely available than ever as clean energy solution that is effective and requires little ongoing attention.”
Note to editors:
• The London Fire Brigade won the prestigious overall award at the City of London Corporation’s Sustainable City Awards on 21st February. The Brigade was also named the winner in the Sustainable Procurement category.
• The Brigade has already installed solar panels at two fire stations (Richmond and Acton), and wind turbines at a further two (Wennington and Hayes). CHP and solar thermal systems have also been installed at a number of stations.
Fire stations receiving renewable energy sources in the second phase of the green programme are (Key – wind turbine: W; photovoltaic panels: PV; solar thermal: ST; combined heat and power: CHP):
Addington: W, PV, ST
Battersea: PV, CHP
Beckenham: ST
Bow: PV, CHP
Chingford: W, ST
Dagenham: W
Erith: ST
Hornsey: CHP
Kingsland: CHP
Old Kent Road: ST
Park Royal: PV, CHP
Peckham: ST
Ruislip: PV, CHP
Sidcup: W
Stanmore: PV, CHP
Wandsworth: CHP
Members of the media can obtain further information from the press office on:
telephone number: 020 8536 5922
email: press@london-fire.gov.uk
