Wrexham leisure centres achieve major carbon savings with energy efficiency upgrades

Energy efficiency measures at local leisure centres will help to save a huge 69 Tonnes or Carbon Emissions annually – the equivalent of travelling between Wrexham to Hollywood 50 times every single year!

Freedom Leisure Centre, which operates several sites on behalf of Wrexham Council, implemented the measures across the leisure centres providing both financial and carbon savings for years to come, highlights include:

• Solar PV and battery installations in Gwyn Evans, Chirk and Queensway.
• Pioneers in improved air handling with some of the first leisure centres across the UK installing destratification fans at Gwyn Evans, Waterworld and Chirk
• Improved pool covers at Gwyn Evans, Chirk, Waterworld, Clywedog and Rhosnesni
• Upgraded pool circulation pumps at Clywedog and Rhosnesni, with variable speed drives meaning they can run at lower speeds
• LED lighting upgrade on the 3G pitch at Morgan Llwyd

These significant energy saving measures in Wrexham have been supported by Sport Wales and the Assets Collaboration Programme Wales with over half a million pounds worth of investment, resulting in an annual saving of over 223,000kW of electricity and 106,000kW of gas.

Brian Davies, Sport Wales CEO, said: “The cost-of-living crisis, combined with the climate emergency, makes it more pressing than ever for investments to be made into leisure centre facilities which are so valued by the communities they serve.

“Each of these measures will significantly reduce the long-term running costs at leisure facilities across Wrexham, enabling them to become more financially sustainable and able to continue providing affordable activities for local people.”

Solar panels at Queensway

Angela Brown, Head of Sustainability and Environment at Freedom Leisure said: “Our commitment to energy efficiency is central to our mission in creating sustainable leisure centres and leading by example alongside our council partner.

“By optimising our energy use, we are ensuring that our facilities produce less carbon, become more cost effective and are aligned with a greener future”

Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for Wrexham County Borough Council with responsibility for Climate Change and Decarbonisation, said: “This is a huge advance in ensuring that our decarbonisation agenda moves forward at pace. Reducing our carbon footprint is one of our corporate priorities and we are grateful to everyone involved with bringing this project to fruition.”

With further improvements planned for the coming year amounting to over quarter of a million-pounds investment in further improvements in Wrexham alone.

These local improvements and ones made further afield across the UK are all contributing towards Freedom Leisure’s goal of becoming Net Zero by 2030 which will ensure they can continue to improve lives through leisure for many more years to come.