For almost 40 years GROW has been putting newly-taught life skills, gained by its students with learning disabilities, back into the community. And now the charity will be adding energy as well.
Working in partnership with Guernsey Electricity, GROW’s new solar array consists of 310 photo voltaic panels fitted to the roof of the main facilities centre which, it is predicted, will generate over 135,000kWh of low carbon electricity each year, enough electricity to power 44 homes. Installation is due to be finished this autumn. In addition, more PV panels have been incorporated in the roof of the new training hospitality unit to meet on-site demand.
Angus Bodman, Director of GROW, said: “The GROW team is delighted to assist the generation of more renewable energy. We are putting sustainability at the heart of our charity and to assist GEL deliver wider benefits is a real bonus.’’
“The hospitality and retail training unit, where some of the PV panels have been installed, will be open to the general public whilst supporting our crew in learning retail and hospitality skills.”
The new facilities at the Coutanchez will provide first class training, health and wellbeing support to people with learning and other disabilities.
Stuart Blondel, Chief Commercial Officer at Guernsey Electricity, commented: “This array is part of our pipeline of projects designed to increase the amount of energy generated on-Island from renewable sources.
“Investing in solar technology on this scale is the right thing to do for the environment and our customers and is another step forward towards reaching our Net Zero target.”
GROW is working with Guernsey Electricity and the Little Green Energy Company on the solar array project. The electricity generated will be supplied to Guernsey Electricity for the local grid, so all customers will access locally produced solar energy.
Find our more about our Community Solar projects.
