Swansea can now boast the first major sports stadium in the UK to be powered entirely by green electricity after bosses at Liberty Stadium, home of the Ospreys, signed a revolutionary deal with npower renewables sister company npower business in spring 2006.

Liberty Stadium Floodlit at Night

To date, the new Wembley Stadium is the only other major stadium to sign up to 100% renewable green electricity, also through npower business. Delays during the construction of Wembley have however allowed the £27million Liberty Stadium to take the accolade of the first major UK stadium to purchase all of its electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and water.

The Liberty Stadium has been linked with clean power generation since its opening in summer 2005 when npower renewables announced a two-year sponsorship deal of home rugby team, the Ospreys. The Stadium also played host to a conference of green energy experts from npower renewables in April 2006.

Stadia elsewhere in the UK, such as The City of Manchester Stadium and Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium, are pursuing ways of supplying their energy needs from locally installed renewable generating sources, such as a single wind turbine or solar panels, but none have yet made the switch to a green energy supplier such as npower business.

It is anticipated that the Liberty Stadium will require around 2,300,000 kiloWatt-hours of electricity every year, energy that has previously been supplied by burning fossil fuels such as gas and coal which release polluting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The Stadium's electricity consumption is equivalent to the average annual electricity needs of some 500 houses, and by choosing to go green it will save around 1,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from being released into our atmosphere, the equivalent of taking around 530 family cars off the road.

Dr Mark Legerton, npower renewables's development manager for Wales, commented:

"The whole energy debate is a hot topic at the moment with rising energy prices, decreasing dependable reserves of traditional fossil fuels and concerns surrounding the impacts of conventional power generation on the environment. The deal to supply Liberty Stadium with clean energy from renewable sources represents a great deal for the environment by helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions associated with traditional power station generation.

"The commitment that the management at Liberty Stadium have made is significant in reflecting the wide support and demand for electricity from clean, renewable power sources, and will help to encourage continuing investment in this core growth area of the energy sector".

Andrew Davies, Liberty Stadium Manager, added:

"We are delighted to have secured our clean, green energy supply from npower. Since opening last summer, Liberty Stadium has developed a reputation as one of the best new stadiums in the UK and we have prided ourselves on the many groundbreaking and innovative features incorporated within the design.

"This move to renewable energy is another way in which Liberty Stadium is ahead of the field, as no other major sports stadium in the UK can boast, as we can, that all its electricity is coming from renewable sources. As a socially responsible company which seeks to invest in the success of future generations, on and off the pitch, the Liberty Stadium is proud to support clean energy."

Former Leader of the Wales Green Party and Swansea City Fan, Martyn Shrewsbury said:

"This is great news for the cause of renewable energy in Wales. To have Swansea's fantastic Liberty Stadium powered by green energy will really make a difference to the way that ordinary people think about their own electricity supply and may even prompt some to switch to products like npower Juice - the domestic green energy tariff.

"This is a great move forward for Swansea and its Stadium, only Swansea City's promotion into the Championship would be better news!"

back

top