The Wave in South Gloucestershire teamed up with industry veterans Syzygy and Absolute Solar and Wind to deliver renewable power to the UK's first inland artificial surfing lagoon in a quest to secure it's energy from 100% sustainable sources.
They aim to power waves using sunshine from June 2023. Planning, funding and contracts are now all in place for the solar installation, which will produce more energy than the surfing lake and its surrounding facilities use every year – making the business Net Zero carbon in terms of its operational energy consumption.
The unique inland surfing destination has secured just over £1.45million European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Growth Programme funding, alongside match funding from South Gloucestershire Council in the form of a commercial loan*, to make this exciting development possible.
The £3.2million project, will see a range of Canadian Solar Bifacial solar PV modules installed across the site, including a solar canopy over part of the car park and a solar ‘Smartflower’, which will act as an engaging renewable energy educational tool for visitors and school visits to The Wave. An electric vehicle charging ‘hub’ will also be installed on site for visitors with Ultra Low Emission vehicles to support the growing Electric Vehicle market. A co-located 380kWh Invinity Energy VS3 Vanadium Flow battery system, which is fully recyclable at the end of its life, will help to increase onsite usage generated from the solar panels. Inverters selected for this project are supplied by SMA.
In total the installation is forecast to generate 3,000,000 (kilowatt hours) in year one – and The Wave’s current annual power consumption is c. 2,250,000 kWh (approx. 50% of energy use is for wave generation and filtration, whilst the remaining 50% is for wider site operations.) Excess power generated will be exported, contributing towards decarbonising the National Grid.
The Wave made a commitment from the outset to only use renewable energy, which is currently sourced from the grid via Good Energy. The long-term vision has always been to incorporate its own renewable energy generation on site – and this is now more important than ever, for environmental and financial sustainability.
The installation of the Solar PV is being project managed by specialist renewable energy consultancy, Syzygy, and is due to be completed by Absolute Solar & Wind.
Nick Hounsfield, The Wave Founder, explains:
“From the word go, we said we would use 100% renewable energy – it would have been so wrong for us to be using fossil fuels to power our waves, thereby contributing to climate change and the acidification of the oceans. [he continues]
The plan was always to progress to be able to generate our own energy and to know that this will be a reality by next year is a dream come true.
This installation wouldn’t be possible without the match funding loan from South Gloucestershire Council. It is brilliant to be working alongside a local authority that is so proactive in its response to the climate change emergency and so supportive of businesses looking to make a positive difference.”
One of The Wave’s investors and project lead on the solar development, Nick Asheshov, adds:
“We are delighted that The Wave is taking a major step towards decarbonisation of its operations, which has always been a key part of the vision that convinced us to back the company several years ago. We are very grateful for the support of South Gloucestershire Council, DLUHC and ERDF, and excited to showcase what is possible for businesses wanting to develop their own on-site renewable energy generation.”
Photo credits: The Wave
Thanks to Absolute Solar and Wind, Invinity Energy and The Wave.
