A team of green supporters gathered at Frome Town Football Club last week to celebrate the opening of the club’s new solar-powered stand.
The stand, which is expected to save around 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide during its lifetime, was switched on on Wednesday 25th November and is the second major solar project for Frome Renewable Energy Co-op (FRECo).
FRECo chair Anna Francis said, ‘We are very excited to finally be switching on the panels. As well as doing lots of excellent sporting activities, the football club has become a much loved community hub so it’s a fantastic place to support.
“We have a long list of investors and roof owners who want to be involved in our next projects. We are just waiting to hear whether the government is going ahead with its plans to slash support for renewable and community energy. Either way we hope to launch a new suite of projects in 2016.”
The stand has been part funded through FRECo’s fundraising which raised £300,000 in community shares in just five days earlier in the year.
The local investment has been used alongside money from Mendip’s Local Legacy fund to provide the football club’s new spectator stand. The clean energy group also installed over 500 solar panels on the roof of Frome Medical Practice during the summer.
50kw of solar panels have been installed by TH White on the football stand’s roof. Electricity produced by the panels will go to the National Grid and any profits from the project will go into a community fund to support other low carbon projects around the town.
Frome Mayor Kate Bielby ‘switched on’ the panels and said, “This is a fantastic example of partnership in action. Community energy really is a win, win, win – good for the community through providing much-needed facilities, good for local investors, and good for the environment.”
The event culminated in a quick five-a-side ‘Climate Criminals’ vs ‘Solar Saviours’ football match which the ‘Solar Saviours’ managed to win in the last minute.
For more information about FRECo visit: www.freco.org