Waterways To Strike A Blow Against Climate Change
8 October 2008
British Waterways Works With Partnerships For Renewables To Develop Renewable Energy
British Waterways has today announced plans to generate renewable energy at canal and riverside locations across the UK. Working with Partnerships for Renewables, British Waterways is the first public corporation to explore opportunities for wind turbines and small-scale hydro power schemes. The proposals, which could provide annual savings in excess of 100,000 tonnes of CO2, would generate enough power for 45,000 homes – the equivalent to the canalside town of Blackburn.
The proposals are based on a target of 50 wind turbines built across the UK over the next five years that will have the capacity to generate 100 mega watts of renewable electricity. Income that British Waterways generates from the turbines will be reinvested into maintaining the nation’s historic waterways.
Robin Evans, British Waterways chief executive, said: "This is a real example of a public organisation using its land in innovative ways to generate additional income and work towards a more sustainable future. We look after 2,200 miles of canals and rivers throughout the UK and, whilst always protecting their heritage, are proactively looking at how we can use this resource to make a contribution towards the fight against climate change.
"We believe that our waterside land could host around 100 megawatts of renewable energy capacity – some 219,000 mega watt hours. If we successfully develop this resource it would mean that the nation’s canal network would generate more than ten times more electricity than it consumes."
Partnerships for Renewables, with the backing of HSBC’s Environmental Infrastructure Fund, will be covering the costs of the development process and using their in-house expertise to ensure that only environmentally appropriate sites are developed.
Stephen Ainger, chief executive of Partnerships for Renewables, said: "When Partnerships for Renewables was set up by the Carbon Trust it was in the knowledge that the public sector owned more than 10% of the land in the UK, but was having real difficulty translating this resource into renewable energy generation. We believe that this announcement marks the beginning of a trend in the public sector to embrace the potential of renewable energy generation and it is great to see that British Waterways has demonstrated the vision to become a torch bearer for others to follow."
Friends of the Earth's energy campaigner Nick Rau said: "We're delighted that British Waterways is planning to take action on climate change by generating its own safe, clean renewable energy and cutting fuel bills at the same time. Community-scale renewable energy projects such as hydropower schemes and wind turbines have a huge role to play in reducing our dependency on fossil fuels and helping Britain to develop a low-carbon economy. It is clear that renewable energy generation development could offer substantial economic and environmental benefits right across the public sector and we hope that other public organisations follow the lead set by British Waterways."
ENDS
For media enquiries contact:
Jonathan Ludford, British Waterways, T. 020 7985 7275, M. 07747 897783, jonathan.ludford@britishwaterways.co.uk
Tom Brinicombe, Partnerships for Renewables, T. 0207 170 6800, M. 07814 169380
tom.brinicombe@pfr.co.uk
Notes to editors:
British Waterways is a not-for-dividend public corporation which cares for a 2,200-mile network of canals, rivers, docks and reservoirs across Britain. It is accountable to the Department of the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs in England and Wales and to the Scottish Government in Scotland and works with a broad range of public, private and voluntary sector partners to protect and find new uses for the nation's historic waterways.
Partnerships for Renewables was set up by Carbon Trust Enterprises in 2006 to work in partnership with the public sector to develop, construct and operate renewable energy projects. By providing a one stop shop for the development of renewable energy projects focused on a project development process tailored to the specific needs of the public sector, Partnerships for Renewables provide a way for Public Sector Bodies to access the economic and environmental benefits associated with renewable energy and contribute towards the fight against climate change without diverting public sector resources away from frontline services.
Following the recent investment announcement by HSBC and the Carbon Trust, P f R is now 51% owned by the Carbon Trust and 49% owned by HSBC.
P f R has the target of developing 500MW of renewable energy capacity in the next 5 to 8 years.
Statistics
50 turbines operating at 25% capacity will generate 219,000 mega watts hours of renewable electricity – enough for 45,000 homes. As at the 2001 census, Blackburn had a population of 105,085, equal to 43,785 homes based on the national average of 2.4 people per household. Source: Office for National Statistics