Haven announces £18m investment in solar panel and energy saving measures across parks

Haven, the UK’s leading holiday park operator and a Blackstone portfolio company, has announced a commitment to invest £18 million in energy saving measures this year across 39 of its 41 parks.

This substantial investment, supported by Haven guests, will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the more than three million guests and 25,000 holiday homeowners who visit the parks.

Haven’s investment plans include over £13m for solar panel installations and £5m for decarbonisation initiatives.

These timely upgrades are meeting the growing demand for eco-friendly holidays, with over 80 per cent of Haven guests agreeing that green energy is important to them, and around 70 per cent saying there should be more solar panels installed on parks.

The new solar panels are being installed in parks with main facilities buildings, and will provide a generation capability of 9MWp, enough to power more than 8,000 UK households per year and the equivalent to ~10 per cent of the total energy that the parks use. In addition, new air source heat pumps also being installed at three park swimming pool buildings.

The solar installations will be completed in June 2024. 

This latest investment also includes £5m for decarbonisation initiatives such as the installation of Building Management Systems to remotely control equipment set points and efficiency levels, another investment is to provide data monitoring systems with interactive alarms to indicate any over consumption of electric, gas and water, plus state-of the-art refrigeration upgrades with optimisation tools and energy saving technologies.

Simon Palethorpe, Managing Director, at Haven said: “We are on a mission to reduce our carbon emissions by 15% by the end of 2024. This investment of £16 million builds on our commitment to caring for people, parks and the planet. We want everyone to be involved at our holiday parks which is why we are engaging our supply chain and working with our team and holiday makers alike in our ‘keen to be green’ efforts. These fit for future investments put sustainability at the heart of family staycations and are a great addition to our promise to give incredible value to guests and owners”.

Acquired by Blackstone in 2021, Haven has already invested almost £230m in parks across 2021 and 2022. With a commitment to upgrading and modernising all holiday sites to offer guests an unforgettable holiday experience, this latest investment is part of over £170m that has been spent across at 41 Haven’s coastal holiday parks in 2023.

Adam Shah, Head of Real Estate Asset Management Europe at Blackstone, said: “We’re committed to upgrading and modernising Haven’s holiday sites to offer guests an unforgettable holiday experience. This latest investment into energy saving measures will help future-proof the business and meet growing customer demand for more sustainable holidays.”