The
Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) has invested £1.3m to deliver the UK’s largest solar thermal installation at its Ansty Park campus in Coventry. The installation will make MTC less reliant on volatile energy markets, while reducing its carbon emissions by 37 tCO2e per year, equivalent to the carbon absorbed by around 1,400 mature trees over a year.
The project sees 1,965 of
Naked Energy's VirtuHOT solar thermal collectors installed on the roof of one of MTC’s buildings at Ansty Park, generating up to 786kW of heat. The collectors will provide thermal energy to serve an absorption chiller, which will provide space cooling to the organisation’s state-of-the-art manufacturing research facility in summer months.
Additionally, the collectors will generate space heating and hot water for general use all year round and are connected to an 8,000-litre water storage tank.
Heat is often described as the overlooked half of the energy transition. Heating accounts for around a third of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, and much of industry’s energy demand is for heat rather than electricity. The UK has the highest industrial electricity prices in the G7, which is contributing to growing interest in on-site renewable heat across the sector.
The project was delivered and installed by engineering specialist SHEco Group.
Joe Darlington, chief innovation solutions officer at the MTC, said: “The UK has a real opportunity to turn the transition to cleaner energy into industrial growth. That means developing British technology, demonstrating it at scale and giving manufacturers the confidence to invest. At MTC, our role is to turn innovation into practical solutions for industry. By making this investment, we are reducing our emissions while demonstrating how British technology can help manufacturers become more sustainable and resilient.”
Christophe Williams, co-founder and CEO of Naked Energy added: “It’s fantastic to partner with MTC and support them on their journey to net zero. The installation tells a clear story about where British manufacturing is heading. On the demand side, MTC, an organisation shaping the future of UK industry, has chosen to put renewable heat at the heart of its site. On the supply side, it’s British-engineered technology, designed and built in the UK, that is delivering it at record scale.”