ENERGETICS SHARING HUB
Faced with a growing crisis related to possible swimming pool closures across Europe caused by high energy prices, LEN worked with the European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI) and organised an Energy Webinar on 13 February 2023. The event brought together more than 60 stakeholders from the swimming sports ecosystem across Europe.
At the webinar, Mary McMorrow, director of operations at Swim Ireland, presented the results of a federation survey that LEN conducted among swimming federations that showed almost 50% of federations had not been supported financially to tackle the issues related to the energy crisis. 94% of all federations are concerned about the future of aquatic sports in their countries.
To deal with this important issue, LEN set up a working group consisting of Mary McMorrow (IRL), Hayke Veldman (NED) and LEN Deputy Executive Director Gianni Minervini to discuss and agree next steps in this important issue.
This dedicated section about this crucial issue has been set up on the LEN website so it can be used by LEN Federations and Aquatics Centre operators to share knowledge and best practices.
You will find a contact form below which makes it easy to submit materials – whether from clubs, federations or other organisations which help address the issue of energetics and support efforts to ensure that facilities used in the sport of aquatics are sustainable and cost effective.
We will also be adding information about what financial support may be available and any relevant application process.
Watch the Webinar here
Case Studies
Thanks to the efforts of Swim England, a scheme was announced that combines short-term support for energy costs with longer-term support for decarbonising pool energy use:
With the need to reduce energy use of vital importance to the financial and environmental sustainability of pools, an increasing number are being built to the exacting Passivhaus standard. The first European pool to achieve this certification was Germany’s Bambados:
Since 2012, France’s Centre Aquatique de Val d’Europe has had 80% of its heat provided by absorbing that which would otherwise have been wasted by a neighbouring data centre:
Showing how the sector can be an example of sustainable design, construction and energy use, while providing a much-valued public facility, the new Centre Aquatique being built for Paris 2024 has been created to conserve energy. It has been built with extensive use of sustainably-grown timber. And one of France’s largest urban solar farms will be installed on the roof, powering a heat pump:
