Energy costs at Notts veterinary chain Minster Vets are set to drop by more than £15,000 per year as investment in solar photovoltaic (PV) panels means an estimated 75% of its future energy will come from the sun (see ‘notes to editors’ for performance data).
New solar PV systems producing almost 50,000 kWh of electricity annually, have been designed and installed by renewable energy experts Geo Green Power for Minster Vets surgeries in Bingham, Southwell, Newark and Burton Joyce. As well as reducing its energy costs the company’s carbon emissions will drop by 15 tonnes per year, the equivalent of taking three cars off the road.
An independently owned veterinary practice, Minster Veterinary Centre opened in Southwell 30 years ago and now has six branches treating household pets such as dogs, cats and rabbits as well as horses and farm animals both in surgery and in the field. Given a 24/7 out of hours service and the often urgent nature of the work, the Geo Green team put together a comprehensive installation plan to work behind the scenes while each surgery remained fully open to customers, their pets and their animals.
Peter Chalkley, Clinical Director, Minster Vets: “As a vets we use a huge amount of electricity throughout the day and all of our costs have risen dramatically over the past 3-4 years, so we need to make savings where we can to minimise the effects. By taking control of our energy costs we aim to continue offering a great service at a fair price with the savings made directed to new equipment and new treatment services.
“It’s important to us to build a more eco-friendly company – animals are also affected by climate change through loss of habitat, dirty air and other issues. Medicine in general has a high carbon footprint and high levels of waste, most of which is unavoidable, so as well as investing in renewable energy we try to be greener by reducing waste and recycling where we can.”
Minster Vets estimates that the £83,000 capital cost of the solar PV installations will be repaid within six years, including ongoing maintenance costs, and that the firm’s energy bills will be negligible from that point onwards as Geo Green’s solar panels are under guarantee for 25 years.
James Cunningham, Managing Director, Geo Green Power: “We’re now seeing a lot of businesses getting really serious about renewable energy. Modern renewable systems have become much more efficient in recent years and at the same time installation costs have reduced. Coupled with mounting evidence of the damage done by fossil fuels, huge increases in energy costs due to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the calculations for business have completely changed and renewables make more sense than ever.”
Geo Green Power operates nationwide from its head office in Wysall on the Nottinghamshire/ Leicestershire border, providing solar PV installations, renewable heating engineering, battery storage systems, electric vehicle charging and other insurance backed renewable energy systems to both commercial and domestic customers.
At any one time the company is carrying out multiple renewable energy infrastructure projects, giving its customers control of their energy needs and supporting their sustainability goals.
