WATTON COMPANY WINS £1 MILLION RENEWABLE ENERGY CONTRACT

Abel Energy Ltd has been awarded a contract worth over £1 million to provide renewable energy solutions at two major facilities run by specialist learning disability services provider Jeesal Group.

The move is expected to reduce their energy costs by 60 per cent over 20 years – a potential saving of around £4.25 million.

Abel Energy will install a one megawatt biomass system and a 200 kilowatt solar photovoltaic installation at Jeesal’s Cawston Park site, together with a 200 kilowatt containerised biomass system at the company’s Patches Farm domiciliary care facility at Buxton.  The contract is the biggest awarded to Abel Energy since it was established in 2011.

“Cawston Park has an old, inefficient heating system and Patches Farm is mainly heated using inefficient electric radiators, so the new biomass heating systems will not only make significant savings for Jeesal over the next 20 years, but they will also considerably reduce their carbon footprint,” said Chris Abel, managing director of Abel Energy.

“The benefits of photovoltaic electricity generation have been well documented, but we are increasingly seeing clients wanting to take advantage of the efficiencies of biomass heating systems as well.  Where they replace old or inefficient systems such as those at Cawston Park and Patches Farm, the benefits can be substantial when factoring in the Government-supported Renewable Heat Incentive.”

Tugay Akman, chief executive officer of Jeesal, added, “This decision was an easy one for us, because it has the equally important advantages of reducing our energy costs, and cutting our carbon footprint.  As a Norfolk-based organisation ourselves, we are delighted to be able to place the contract with a local supplier.”

The privately-owned Jeesal Group was founded in 1985, and is one of the largest independent providers of specialist learning disability services across Norfolk.  It provides a range of specialist care for adults with learning disabilities and associated needs, and employs around 500 people in the county.  The Group added Cawston Park to its portfolio in 2010.