Solar panels – designed to reduce carbon emissions by 20 per cent – have been installed at Bristol City Football Club’s Ashton Gate stadium as part of a £45m (US$59.2m, €53.4m) rebuild.

Stephen Lansdown-owned Bristol Sport – which oversees the operations of the football club, as well as Bristol Rugby Club and Bristol Flyers Basketball – has partnered with Bristol City Council to purchase the solar PV panels and biofuel boiler.

The system is expected to save the club £150,000 (US$197,407, €178,142) over 20 years on its energy bills, while also allowing the council to recuperate the cost and make a small surplus.

Martin Griffiths, chair of Bristol Sport, said the organisation had “worked hard to design, build and operate a socially responsible venue for the city”.

The rebuilt stadium will include air-to-air heat recovery, low energy lighting, automatic controls, low water consumption taps and toilets and heat pumps designed to reduce the venue’s energy use.

“One of the mayor’s (Marvin Rees) campaign promises was to put Bristol on course to run entirely on clean energy by 2050,” said cabinet member Helen Holland. “The City Council cannot achieve this by ourselves, so working with partners like Bristol Sport is going to be essential if we’re going to hit our goal.”