Award-winning Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, based on Whitehouse Industrial Estate in Ipswich, Suffolk, has installed new state-of-the-art photovoltaic solar panels on the south-facing roof of its Head Office, Fred. Olsen House, to assist in powering the building and helping the company move towards a more sustainable future.
The installation work was carried out by Worcester Renewable Energy, and took seven days to complete.
Fred. Olsen House, which has been Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ headquarters since September 1993, accommodatesnearly 180 staff, and provides the support functions for the Company’s fleet of four cruise ships – Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch.
The south-facing roof of Fred. Olsen House, at the front of the building, now features 198 of the latest generation of photovoltaic solar panels, which each measure 1m x 1.6m. In total, they take up an area of 316.8m2. Each kilowatt (KW) of solar panel costs £1,000 to install, representing an investment of over £50,000 by Fred. Olsen.
It is estimated that Fred. Olsen House consumes around 614,000 kWh a year, and the new solar panels – which maximise the available space on the sun-facing side of the building – will generate around 7% of all the electricity that is used in the cruise line’s Head Office. This is equivalent to 44,055 kWh – about the same as the average consumption of ten domestic dwellings – meaning a saving of 25,023kg of CO2, or the equivalent of 25 tonnes of sugar!
Fred. Olsen House has also been fitted with a visual, customer-facing display to show the energy savings being achieved within the building.
Mike Rodwell, Managing Director at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said:
“Installing a renewable energy system to the roof of Fred. Olsen House will contribute towards a more sustainable future, by helping to mitigate the effects of climate change and decrease our reliance on fossil fuels. The feed-in tariff scheme also makes the installation of on-site generation an attractive investment and secures our energy costs for the future.
“We believe it to be one of the largest installations of solar panels on any building within the local area, and we are very proud to be ‘doing our bit’ towards a more sustainable future for all of us.”
Darren Stockall, Managing Director at Worcester Renewable Energy, said:
“It has been an absolute pleasure to work for such a forward-thinking and professional organisation.
“We were delighted that Fred. Olsen adopted our recommendation to install high-quality panels to maximise on-site generation and CO2 savings.
“The REC panels that Fred. Olsen has chosen have a 25-year manufacturer’s performance warranty and have been independently tested in PHOTON International field performance tests, ranking amongst the highest performing solar panels in the world.”
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is part of the Fred. Olsen group of companies, which includes leading renewable energy division, Fred. Olsen Renewables.
Fred. Olsen Renewables plays a major international role in renewable and sustainable energy research, development and generation, and focusses mainly upon onshore wind power, making its first investment back in 1996.
