GFSL introduce solar energy to meet net zero carbon targets by 2025
Gov Facility Services Ltd (GFSL), is pioneering solar energy projects in 2 of the Southern England prisons where the company provides facilities management services.
![](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6023cc05d3bf7f70bd7639c2/solar-panels.jpg)
After 6 months of planning, GFSL is about to introduce a series of environmentally friendly upgrades which will reduce carbon emissions by more than 2,300 tonnes.
At HMP Bure near Norwich in Norfolk, they will reduce reliance on the existing electric load by 17% and save 79 tonnes of CO2 per year by installing rooftop solar panels. It’s due to be completed by the end of March 2021. A second project under way in Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire uses ground based solar panels and is scheduled for completion in July.
GFSL Energy Services Manager Stewart Grew, explains:
This is a prime example of using clean energy to create ‘eco-prisons’ and not just meet, but exceed the Ministry of Justice’s carbon reduction targets by 2025. We also have other interesting projects in the pipeline like an LED lighting replacement programme and the installation of heat pumps and biomass boilers.
GFSL CEO Paul Ryder adds:
We’re proud of all the innovation and hard work which goes into our transition to clean energy sources rolled out across all of the southern England sites. Not only are we exceeding our carbon emission targets, we’re also saving considerable sums of public money on maintenance budgets.