A combination of clever tech and common sense will enable an eco-friendly hotel in North Wales to be 'close to off-grid' during the summer months. As well as achieving a massive reduction in carbon emissions, the energy bills at the historic seafront Llandudno Bay Hotel have been slashed by £90,000 in a year.
Work carried out in the first phase of the project has already garnered a raft of awards for the Llandudno Bay Hotel. As well as being crowned Sustainable Luxury Hotel Group of the Year, it was also named as the Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Hotel of the Year 2023 at the Go North Wales Tourism Awards.
The news was revealed when the second phase of the green revolution at the award-winning hotel – part of the Everbright Group – was unveiled. The measures will cut the hotel’s CO2 emissions by 85 per cent leading to an annual reduction of 95 tonnes, when the full system is installed.
Darryl Shaw, Everbright Group Operations DirectorBetween March and September, there will be a residual usage of the boilers and we’re going to be pretty close to being off-grid in the summer months when the final PV and thermodynamic panels are in place. We’re on the road to being carbon zero."
At the centre of the second part of the £350,000 investment is a car port with three EV car chargers, including a rapid charger, at the back of the building. It’s festooned with technology, including the first commercial installation of thermodynamic panels in the UK. They are widely used in other parts of Europe and are similar to air-source heat pumps – but without the downsides of being noisy and long-term maintenance. They work like refrigerators in reverse, absorbing the radiation from the sun to heat the water and the radiators in the building.
Another key part of the scheme is the use of voltage optimisers to convert the electricity supply from the usual 240 volts to 220 volts which is standard in much of Europe. The reduced voltage perfectly fine to run any equipment in the hotel but that alone cuts the hotel’s electricity bill by 10 per cent. Meanwhile, any spare energy is stored in a bank of lithium batteries housed in a steel-lined vault to take advantage of cheaper, night-rate electricity instead of the peak daytime rate.
The trailblazing pilot project has been such a big hit that it’s now going to be rolled out to the other hotels in the Everbright Group, including the Belmont Hotel and the Queens, in Llandudno, the Wild Pheasant Hotel and Spa in Llangollen and Rossett Hall Hotel, near Wrexham.
Liam Donnelly, Hotel ManagerI’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved and leading the way, not just within the Everbright Group but also in the wider hotel industry in the UK. An amazing journey since opening in 2022."
