Installation at Hadleigh Country Park is part of a long-standing Essex County Council project to install solar panels across the county.

Councillors from Essex County Council and Castle Point Borough Council visited Hadleigh Country Park where solar panels have recently been installed.

Essex County Council (ECC) councillors Peter Schwier, Graham Butland and Mark Durham were joined by Castle Point Borough Council councillors Jillian Reeves, Jacqui Thornton and Andy Thornton during the visit.

The installation at Hadleigh Country Park is part of a long-standing project that has seen solar panels installed by the County Council across Essex.

To date there have been over 50 different solar panel installations completed by ECC, over 30 across maintained schools and over 20 across other Essex County Council buildings. These have seen over 2,500 individual solar panels installed.

As a result, ECC buildings have generated a total of over one million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electric. This is due to go beyond one and a half million kWh this year, which is expected to save close to a million pounds and prevent over 280 tonnes of CO2 emissions being released into the atmosphere.

Some of these sites are now able to generate so much energy they no longer require grid powered energy during the summer.

All solar installs can be monitored by ECC to track savings as well as monitor any potential issues.

Speaking of the visit, Essex County Council Climate Czar, Cllr Peter Schwier said: “The solar panels installed at Hadleigh Country Park signify the outstanding work Essex County Council is doing by putting into effect our Climate Action Plan which aims to reduce the county’s carbon footprint.

“It shows great progress that is being made as we are continuing work to achieve our goal of being a net zero county by 2050.”

Cllr Graham Butland, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Devolution, the Arts, Heritage and Culture, said: “I’m delighted to see this solar panel installation at Hadleigh Country Park which also provides an important green space for residents to enjoy.”

The solar panels installed at Hadleigh Country Park were part funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme which was made available to public sector buildings by Salix.

To date, Essex County Council has spent roughly £600,000 installing solar panels on council buildings.