British Land has installed 1,100 solar panels at its 337,000 sq ft Serpentine Green Regional retail centre in Peterborough, in one of the UK’s largest retail rooftop solar projects.

The solar installation was completed this month and covers 19,500 sq ft, equivalent to nine tennis courts¹. The solar photovoltaic system will generate c. 275,000 kilowatt hours of electricity every year which is enough to power 85 homes for a year² or 1.2 million miles of charge³ for an electric car.

During the summer months, 22% of the annual electricity demand for the centre’s common areas and car park will be met by solar energy. Annually this is expected to save 140 tonnes of CO₂ annually and 3,289 tonnes over the next 25 years, equivalent to taking 2,155 cars off the road⁴.

Matthew Webster, Head of Wellbeing & Futureproofing for British Land, said: “Serpentine Green’s solar photovoltaic system further demonstrates our commitment to future-proofing our assets – unlocking additional income streams whilst helping to protect us and our customers against risks such as increasing energy prices. Alongside identifying renewable sources of energy, our well established energy efficiency programme means we carefully manage our energy consumption - this programme has already delivered £13 million of gross savings for our occupiers.”

John MacDonald-Brown, CEO for Syzygy Renewables, said: “Having recently delivered a similar sized installation at St Stephen’s, Hull, Syzygy was delighted to return to work with British Land on this project. It is encouraging to see large commercial real estate investors like British Land seeking to reduce their carbon footprints and future-proof their assets. We very much look forward to the next project.”

Other steps taken to continue to improve sustainability at Serpentine Green include a 20% (1.5 million kilowatt hours) energy reduction over the last six years, 100% of managed waste diverted from landfill and 300 tonnes of waste recycled over the last three years. The centre is also home to eight beehives housing 500,000 bees.

Syzygy Renewables managed the project on behalf of British Land and Solar Advanced Systems Limited was the contractor.

British Land has been the European sector leader in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark three times. The company has also won awards for energy reductions from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers.

¹ 1,813.6m2 (19,500 sq ft) of panels, tennis court is 195.6 m2, equivalent to c. 9 tennis courts 
² Typical UK household uses 3,300 kWh of electricity per annum. 275,000 / 3,300 = 83.3 homes for a year [Ref: Ofgem]
³ New Tesla model 3 does 237 watt-hours per mile. 275,000 / .237 = 1,160,338 miles 
⁴ Calculation based on avg CO2 emissions for regular car @ 122.8 grams per km. Average UK mileage @ 12,700km (1 car 1.53 tonnes of C02per annum). Equals 1.53 imperial tons. Calculation: 3,289 tonnes / 1.53 = 2,155 cars off the road [Ref: BBC and Department for Transport Stats]

Enquiries:  
Investor Relations  
Cressida Curtis, British Land 020 7467 2938
   
Media  
Pip Wood, British Land 020 7467 2838
Jackie Janssen, British Land 020 7467 3449
Emma Hammond, FTI Consulting 020 3727 1227
Gordon Simpson, Finsbury Group 020 7251 3801

Notes to Editors

About British Land
British Land's portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on Retail around the UK and London Offices. They own or manage a portfolio valued at £19.1 billion (British Land share: £13.9 billion) as at 31 March 2017 making them one of Europe’s largest listed real estate investment companies.

Their strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of their customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. They do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance.

Our Retail portfolio is focused on Regional and Local multi-let centres, and accounts for 48% of their portfolio. Their Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 49% of our portfolio. Increasingly their focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, their 46 acre redevelopment opportunity where they have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London.

Sustainability is embedded throughout the business. Their places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. Their industry-leading sustainability performance led to British Land being named a European Sector Leader in the 2016 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark for the third year running.

In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.

About Syzygy Renewables 
Syzygy is a leading renewable energy consultancy based in London, with a specialism in advising large commercial real estate owners, occupiers and asset managers on practical solutions for the deployment of embedded (onsite) renewable energy generation.

John Macdonald-Brown (CEO) has over 15 years of commercial property asset management experience. Syzygy bridges the gap between energy generation and commercial real estate.

Syzygy has delivered over 30 UK shopping centres to date for various clients.

Since 2010, Syzygy has worked with many of the leading UK real estate owners including British Land.

This item was originally published on the British Land website here.