Manchester City Football Club is set to build a 4.39 MWh solar power plant at Etihad Campus that will be the world’s largest of its kind built and developed by a football club. Currently, the world’s largest solar power plant built and developed by a football club is the 4.3 MWh solar farm built and developed by Galatasaray football club at the roof of the 52,000+ seat Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi – Nef Stadyumu in Istanbul, Turkey.
The construction of the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi solar power plant began back in 2021 with Enerjisa Enerji A.Ş, a power distribution and retail company based in Turkey as the development partner. It was completed in 2022 following the installation of a total of 10,000 solar panels on an area of around 40,000 square meters.
The cost of construction of the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi solar power plant was approximately TRY 20 million (€ 2, 1 million).
When and where will Manchester City FC’s 4.39MW solar power plant be built?
The precise date of the start of construction of the power plant has not been announced yet. However, the club has revealed that it has submitted its plan to the Manchester City Council and it is currently awaiting approval.
Following its approval, the world’s largest solar power plant by a football club will be built on the roof of the 7,000-capacity Joie Stadium (known simply as Academy Stadium). The latter is the home to Manchester City Women and Manchester City FC’s EDS and Academy teams.
More than 3,000 panels will be installed on the roof of the Academy Stadium while a further 3,942 will be installed on the roofs of other facilities on the premises. These facilities include the First Team and Academy Building. In addition, 3,830 panels will be installed on frames over footpaths and pitch-side areas of the Academy Stadium.
In total, Manchester City FC’s 4.39MW solar power plant will have over 10,880 solar panels. The club anticipates that the facility will be complete and fully operational by the end of 2024. Clearvolt, a company providing and delivering zero CapEx renewable energy solutions to businesses across the United Kingdom will construct and manage the world’s largest power plant by a football club.
Road to being carbon zero by 2030
The development of Manchester City FC’s 4.39MW solar power plant builds on the club’s long-standing commitment to using clean energy. Owing to this commitment, Manchester City FC has been purchasing 100% renewable electricity under a power agreement for the past eight years.
At this juncture, the club seeks to be self-reliant by developing the 4.39MW solar power plant which will completely offset the power required to run the day-to-day operations of the City Football Academy. Moreover, the facility builds on the club’s commitment to adopt sustainable practices ranging from the removal of all single-use plastic on a matchday to reusing rainwater and recycling more than 70% of its waste.
The production and consumption of renewable energy have a very important role to play on our road to being net carbon zero by 2030. That is why we are delighted at the prospect of installing the over 10,800 solar panels at our home in Manchester,” said Manchester City Club’s Director of Sustainability, Pete Bradshaw.
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