Bristol surfing lake The Wave to become carbon neutral

The installation is due to be completed and start generating energy at the site from June 2023

Work is set to start on a solar and energy storage array at artificial surfing lake The Wave.

The solar installation will produce more energy than The Wave, near Bristol, uses every year, making it carbon neutral.

It is due to be completed and start generating energy from June.

In total the installation is forecast to generate 3 million kWh in year one - its current annual power consumption is 2.25 million kWh.

The company secured £1.45m European Regional Development Fund Growth Programme funding, alongside match funding from South Gloucestershire Council, in the form of a commercial loan, to finance the development.

Excess power generated will be exported, contributing towards decarbonising the National Grid.

Nick Hounsfield (left) with The Wave CEO Craid Stoddart founded the inland surfing destination in 2019

The Wave founder, Nick Hounsfield, said: "From the word go, we said we would use 100% renewable energy - it would have been so wrong for us to be using fossil fuels to power our waves, thereby contributing to climate change and the acidification of the oceans."

South Gloucestershire Council leader with cabinet responsibility for climate change, Toby Savage, added: "We are delighted to be able to support The Wave in bringing forward their solar and energy-storage proposals at their surfing destination in Easter Compton."

As part of the installation, The Wave plans to seed wildflowers alongside the solar panels, to help create valuable habitats for pollinators.