Wiltshire club kicks energy waste into touch
Founded in 1971, Royal Wootton Bassett’s rugby football club, the ‘Wiltshire All Blacks’, fields four senior sides and provides coaching and training for aspiring players as young as five, including three girls’ teams, the Bassett Ravens. Though admittedly ambitious for success at senior level, the club is equally determined to give people of all ages and abilities the chance to take part and enjoy the game.
Their Ballards Ash home enjoys stunning views over 16 acres of expertly maintained sports fields and the countryside beyond. Built in 2013, the clubhouse provides conference and catering facilities, a licenced bar and seating for 150 people, who can appreciate the outlook through large picture windows.
The building is modern and airy by design. The club management planned ahead and increased their construction budget to make sure it was fully future proofed, with maximum thermal efficiency glass, full LED lighting, and taps and showers on timers. With all this in place the Wiltshire All Blacks were well on their way to making their home ‘the most iconic rugby facility in the region outside of the professional game.’
But there was more to be done. Club Chairman Chris Elias explains: ‘We had the roof specifically designed to be able to accommodate solar panels. So it was the logical next step to being more energy self-sufficient.’ It was only once they’d decided to go ahead that the club heard about Target 2030 funding and contacted Severn Wye to find out more.
The club applied for a Target 2030 grant of just over £11,300 to match their own investment of £26,400 and installed a 46 kWp solar PV array on their ready-and-waiting roof. The application process was pretty straightforward, says Elias, and their Business Energy Assessor gave advice where needed along the way. A further grant from the local authority provided an extra boost.
With the club’s energy costs increasing from 18p to 53p per kwh since the array was installed, being able to generate so much of their own energy needs and sell surplus to the grid has made a huge impact. And not just financially: ‘It makes everyone a bit more relaxed when we have to crank up the air conditioning in the summer!’
Their investment in sustainability drew some attention when it was publicised in the club’s newsletter and social media – as Elias comments, ‘Saving 20 tonnes of CO2 makes people take notice.’
Though the club would likely have been able to forge ahead without Target 2030 grant funding, the much quicker return on investment afforded by the contribution made the installation a no-brainer. Over the lifetime of the array the club stands to save more than £228,000.
The club has signed up to a Rugby Football Union review to identify potential further savings, and are keen to explore installing batteries so they can use their daytime generation to power floodlights during the winter. They’re also getting number of EV chargers installed. And as if that wasn’t creating enough buzz, their two beehives produce delicious single-source honey that flies off the shelves as fast as membership applications.
