Over the next decade, we will transition our energy requirements to low carbon energy sources, purchase renewable energy from the grid, and use low carbon energy generation across all of our villages.
Our target is to have 50% of our energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030.
Where we are
- All of our grid electricity has been renewable since 2020
- We have installed solar PV systems to generate renewable energy at four of our villages and at our Head Office building
- We have installed biomass boilers into the district heating system at Woburn Forest, generating renewable energy and removing the need for a gas boiler in every lodge
- We have installed air source heat pumps at Longleat Forest, Sherwood Forest and Whinfell Forest generating renewable energy
How we're doing
We are aiming to source 50% of our energy from renewable sources by 2030.
Our renewable energy comes from a number of sources, including:
- 100% of our grid electricity, which is generated from renewable sources
- Heat supplied from a biogas-fuelled combined heat and power unit at Sherwood Forest
- Heat supplied to our district heating network from a biomass boiler at Woburn Forest
- Electricity generated from a 100KWp solar array at our Head Office building
Figure 1 shows the percentage of energy generated by renewable sources as a proportion of our total energy consumption across our UK and Ireland operations.
Figure 1: Bar chart showing proportion of energy generated from renewable sources for our UK and Ireland operations
Figure 2 shows the percentage of energy generated from renewable sources for our UK operations and monitors progress against our 2030 targets.
Figure 2: Bar chart showing proportion of energy generated from renewable sources for our UK operations.
- Whilst we were able to reduce our consumption of grid electricity (which is 100% renewable) during periods of closure or reduced occupancy, we needed to use natural gas to provide consistent low-level heating for the central buildings and Subtropical Swimming Paradise to ensure their integrity and safety. As a result, we saw a reduction in the proportion of energy from renewable sources for our Ireland operation during this period. Our UK operations were less impacted during this period, as a substantial proportion of the heat supplied to our central buildings at two of our villages was produced from biomass and/or biogas.
- Figures for FY20, FY21 and FY22 were affected by closures of the villages and operational restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic and therefore do not reflect a typical year of operations.
- Figures for FY20 have been adjusted to account for 35 days of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic – this adjustment allows us to reasonably set FY20 as a baseline year for our targets, ensuring we reflect a typical operating year.
- Due to the timing of when Center Parcs Longford Forest (in Ireland) opened, and the closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we do not yet have a full year of figures for our Ireland operation. With this in mind, we cannot currently set meaningful targets for our Ireland operation and so our renewable energy target solely applies to our UK operations at this time. We are committed to making real improvements to the proportion of energy we use that has been generated from renewable sources and we hope to be able to set targets for our Ireland operation once we have a full year of data available to us.
UK
- FY20: 6%
- FY21: 14%
- FY22: 21%
- FY23: 21%
Ireland
- FY20: 27%
- FY21: 12%
- FY22: 17%
- FY23: 19%
The chart shows the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources for our UK and Ireland operations. The figures for Ireland dip at FY21 (explained in context) and remain below the baseline in FY22. The figures for the UK gradually increase year-on-year.
- FY20: 6%
- FY21: 14%
- FY22: 21%
- FY23: 21%
- FY30 target: 50%
The chart shows the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources for our UK operations. There is a trend line from FY20 to FY30 showing that a 44% increase is required to meet our FY30 target. The figures are gradually increasing year-on-year and currently exceed the required rate of increase according to the trend line. In FY23 the percentage of energy generated from renewable sources remained at 21%.
