Image: Section of Centreco Installation for Keeling & Walker (49.59kW Solar Energy System)

• Centreco delivers an industry-leading solar energy system to Keeling & Walker, a Stoke-On-Trent based pigments manufacturer.On-site electricity generation is now in place through a 49.59kW capacity system at Stoke-On-Trent premises.
• Bespoke designed system comprising 114 Tier One Solar Panels.
• Equivalent electricity generated from the system at only 5.8p per kW Hour for the long-term.
• Green energy generated resulting in CO₂savings of 240 tonnes forecast over the next 25 years.

Leading UK installers of commercial Solar Energy Systems, Centreco (UK) Limited, are pleased to announce the completion of a 49.59kW installation for Stoke-On-Trent based pigments manufacturer, Keeling & Walker.

Using the latest solar system modelling and design techniques following on site surveys, Centreco were able to design and install a bespoke solar energy system matching Keeling & Walker’s demand for energy. This ensures the best long-term commercial returns for the business, delivers optimal environmental benefits whilst efficiently using the amount of available roof space.

Keeling & Walker is a high quality manufacturing company with proud history of quality and innovation. Founded in the early 1900s, Keeling & Walker became a limited company in 1916. By this time it was a leading supplier of all types of ceramics, plants and equipment. Keeling & Walker is now a renowned name across the globe as the leading supplier of tin oxide and related materials. In 2015, Keeling & Walker built and opened a new factory next to its head office. This new factory provided the much-needed space for expanding the manufacturing units for Irasorb infrared absorbing oxides.

This manufacturing operation is an energy-intensive production process and Keeling & Walker were keen to address both the challenging of increasing electricity costs and reducing the Company’s impact on the environment.

A Centreco solar energy system was a perfect solution. The system will produce electricity at an equivalent cost of just 5.8p/kWHr across the next 25 years – being the warranted performance life cycle of the installation. This represents a huge saving against grid supply and protects Keeling & Walker from the volatile energy supply markets and inflationary pressures on electricity pricing for the long-term.

Further, the system’s 114 roof-mounted tier one panels will allow the Company to generate its own green electricity and allow Keeling & Walker to save 240 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the 25 year period.

Tim Whitehead, Environment, Health, Safety, and Quality Manager of Keeling & Walker, commented on the installation “Keeling & Walker decided to install the solar panels not only for sustainability and a lower carbon footprint, but also for economic reasons. Given the recent turmoil in the energy markets, having a supply of energy at stable calculatable costs independent from the volatile market prices will provide a stabilising and balancing effect on our energy bills. Ultimately this will benefit Keeling & Walker’s customers as increasing energy costs and especially their spikes can be buffered to a certain extent. In that respect, the Centreco solar system will contribute to improving Keeling & Walker´s competitiveness. What can better making a positive impact on the company’s environmental footprint and at the same time improve its economic situation?”

Alan Cuthbert, Project Development Manager at Centreco also commented on the installation by saying “Keeling & Walker is an innovative pigments manufacturer, they are forward thinking and were keen to address rising electricity costs and the Company’s  environmental footprint. From the outset, it was clear that a Centreco solar energy system would be a key component of meeting both objectives for the operation.

We see these demands increasingly from quality manufacturing and production businesses and we are pleased that the Centreco proposition delivers on both the economic and environmental front for these types of organisations.

Keeling & Walker were a pleasure to work with through the design, modelling and installation phases of the project and we wish them well over the many years of green energy generation they will now enjoy from their Centreco solar energy system.

5^th September 2023