Moray Council approves options for solar panels on key buildings

Moray Council has approved plans to explore investment in solar photovoltaic (PV) to generate electricity from its buildings and cut carbon emissions.

Starting with Elgin Library, HQ Annexe and Ashgrove Depot, the local authority could generate annual energy savings of around £40,000 with an initial spend of £250,000.

The potential is for the PV to be large enough for the majority of the electricity generated to be used on site. There is also the potential to expand the PV network across other council buildings in future if they’re suitable.

The move could be a spend to save measure and further assessments will be carried out to make sure any savings generated are worth the cost.

Also approved at the same meeting was a switch to LED lighting in council buildings. Starting with HQ, Annexe and Ashgrove depot the phasing out of fluorescent light bulbs and upgrading to LED could save around £600,000 a year as well as contribute to energy efficiency.

The council spent £3.5m on electricity across its estate in 2023/24. The investment of £4.6m in the first phase of upgrades will also improve working conditions for staff and help the council’s progression to net zero.

Speaking after the approval of full council, Moray Council leader, Cllr Kathleen Robertson, said: “This is exactly the type of innovative spend to save measures we’re keen to explore further. We need to be creative in how we view future spending within the council but when it ties in with our Net Zero ambitions and has the potential to save on costs in the long-run, we absolutely need to be considering projects like this. I’ll look forward to seeing how it progresses.”