West Lothian Council has announced plans to install solar panels at the West Lothian Civic Centre, as part of an ongoing scheme to reduce energy usage across public buildings in the region.

The West Lothian Civic Centre is the largest partnership centre in Scotland and home to Scottish Courts, Procurator Fiscals Office, the Fire and Rescue Service, West Lothian Council, Children's Reporter, Improvement Service and Police Scotland.

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A planning application has been submitted to install a 100kW solar panel system on the Civic Centre roof, made up of 244 panels.

If planning consent is granted the panels would generate just over 79,000kWh per year - around 3% of the buildings annual electricity consumption. This would save around 18 tonnes of carbon each year. 18 tonnes is equivalent to the carbon absorbed each year by around 700 trees.

Even with the initial investment factored in, the panels would still save the public building around £20,000 per year, which means more money can be invested in delivering local services, whilst mitigating the impacts of rising energy costs and reducing our emissions.