Vale completes leisure-centre heat pumps and 600-panel solar upgrade
Vale of White Horse District Council has completed the heating and solar upgrade at White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre in Abingdon.
Air-source heat pumps replace gas boilers and combined heat and power equipment. The 600 rooftop solar panels have generated more than 175,000 kWh since connection in December 2025.
The council secured almost £6 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme for Abingdon and Wantage together, with additional infrastructure levy and UK Shared Prosperity Fund support. That total should not be read as the cost of Abingdon alone.
With both centres finished, the council forecasts an approximately 25% reduction in its operational carbon emissions. This is an estimate, rather than a measured annual result.
For public-estate teams, the project illustrates how heating replacement and on-site electricity generation can be delivered together.
Source: Vale of White Horse District Council, 23rd October 2026.