SUCCESS STORY

Reducing energy costs with on-site renewables: Swansea Valley Holiday Cottages

Swansea Valley Holiday Cottages is a farm diversification hospitality business in South Wales, based on the historic Plas Cilybebyll Estate, a former farm estate. Making sustainability a centrepiece of how the estate and the cottages ran would help the business stand out in a crowded, seasonal market, plus provide cost saving benefits.

Impact at a glance

• Saved around £15,000 per year in heating costs by installing biomass boilers
• Installed solar panels across several buildings and on estate land and developed a micro-hydro scheme

The business

The business originated from the owner’s family farm on the Plas Cilybebyll estate, which has been in the family for many years. Wanting to maintain the estate but take it in a different direction, the owner developed a tourist accommodation and events business that has grown and attracted several awards. Swansea Valley Holiday Cottages runs are a collection of 5-star unique, self-catering holiday cottages set in the countryside of central South Wales.

Sector: Hospitality

Location: South Wales

Employees: 2 (plus owner), supported by local contractors

Why they took action

The decision to invest in renewables and other sustainable initiatives was driven by several factors:

• A desire to make long-term decisions the protected the future of what is a historic site as a family business
• A need to reduce energy costs that, through a combination of heating oil and grid electricity, had increased rapidly during times of high energy prices
• A realisation from studying customer feedback that visitors valued both the outstanding local landscapes and biodiversity, and the sense that they were staying on an estate that was run sustainably

What they did

Significant capital investment

Micro-hydro system with 11 kW installed capacity, generating on average 33MWh a year  site.

Medium cost actions

Two biomass boilers were installed, running on locally sourced sustainable woodchip, to replace oil heating – these now provide 100% of heating and hot water for the estate.

Solar panels were installed on some of the cottages, the farmhouse and a ground-mounted ‘solar bank’ in a field on the site.

GENERAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT FOR SOLAR PANELS

Rooftop solar can reduce electricity bills by around 20–40%, with typical payback in 3–6 years and savings lasting 25+ years.

Source:
Energy Saving Trust

What difference it made

The biomass boilers save around £15,000 a year through replacing heating oil costs

The combination of hydro and solar panel provides a proportion of the electricity used on the site, and has reduced carbon emissions by 10 tonnes CO2e per year.

The hydro power and solar installation also work as a system. During the summer, when occupancy in the cottages is at its peak, and water restrictions in the area limit the hydro power that can be used, the solar panels can compensate. This helps contribute to demand across the year and provides resilience against fluctuating fossil fuel prices.

How were the changes funded?

The biomass boilers became financially worthwhile because of the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.

The micro-hydro project was largely funded from a grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund via Neath Port Talbot Council.

Lessons for other businesses

Swansea Valley Holiday Cottages demonstrates how a long-term focus on sustainability in its widest sense can support resilience and growth in a family business. The firm has combined a shift to renewable energy to combat rising energy costs, with a wider emphasis on how the estate is run in harmony with nature, helping to attract more visitors year-round. This insight came from studying comments left in the visitor books, showing the enduring value of understanding your customers.

Find out more about Swansea Valley Holiday Cottages