National Trust completes over 130 renewable energy projects to put green power at the heart of conservation

National Trust completes over 130 renewable energy projects to put green power at the heart of conservation - National Trust

Over 130 renewable energy projects have been completed in the National Trust’s mansion houses, farms, holiday cottages and cafés, as part of an ambitious nine-year programme by the charity to grow its own green energy supply and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

Renewable energy solar panels - © NT images James Dobson

The Trust launched a renewable energy investment scheme in 2013 to help the organisation “get off oil” and generate 50 per cent of its own energy, against a 2008 baseline, by 2021. Today, the charity says it has met that target.

Thirty-five million pounds has been invested during the past nine years, making it the organisation’s biggest ever investment in renewable energy.

Installations can be found in some of the most historically and environmentally significant sites in the Trust’s care, ranging from mountain hydros in the fast-flowing streams of the Lake District and Snowdonia to biomass boilers and heat pumps in mansion houses that help preserve rare books, tapestries and paintings.

Together, the schemes can generate 24 million kilowatt hours of energy each year – the equivalent of powering over 8,400 homes.

Patrick Begg, the Trust’s Director of Outdoors and Natural Resources, said: “Over a decade ago we set ourselves the ambition of growing our own energy and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and began a serious programme of investment shortly after. We’ve since completed 138 projects – and most you wouldn’t even know are there. Many of our historic properties that were once reliant on oil are now fuelled by natural resources and much of our visitors’ experience is rooted in renewables – from the exquisite tapestries on view that need carefully-controlled humidity, to the holiday cottages kept warm by heat pumps and the lights turned on in our hydro-powered pub. As debate intensifies around how the UK sources, generates and saves energy, these projects offer a snapshot of what’s possible – even in the most challenging and remote of settings. The technology and the solutions are already at our fingertips.”