South Kesteven District Council ditches solar panel supplier Canadian Solar for Grantham Meres Leisure Centre over ethical concerns

A council has ditched the supplier of solar panels for the Grantham Meres Leisure Centre, citing ethical concerns within the supply chain.

South Kesteven District Council leader Ashley Baxter (Independent) slammed solar PV manufacturer Canadian Solar during a full council meeting this afternoon (Thursday, September 26), stating he actively sought alternatives due to allegations of the company’s involvement in forced labour in China.

More than £4 million, made up of a grant from the government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and funding from the council's own budget, is being used to install an air source heat pump at the leisure centre on Trent Road.

To offset the conversion from gas, solar panels were also planned to support the heating system, utilising a separate grant of £445,725 from the government's Swimming Pool Support Fund.

During the meeting, Cllr Baxter explained that the contract for the installation and procurement of the panels had been awarded directly to Leisure Energy Limited, which subcontracted the work to Geo Green UK. It later transpired that the panels were being supplied by Canadian Solar.

"We do not have, and have not had, a direct relationship with the manufacturer or supplier of the panels," said the representative for Market and West Deeping.

He shared that Councillor David Bellamy (Conservative) and Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP for Stamford and Rutland, had alerted him to the concerns surrounding Canadian Solar's supply chain.

Cllr Baxter added: "With friendly help and support from the officers of the MP, we worked to find better, more ethical alternatives.

"This is very difficult because pretty much the whole PV market is muddled up with ethical concerns, particularly around the regions of China where the Uyghur people are facing a genocide and are being used as forced labour to produce many household items including PV panels.

"No one on this council, I’m sure, would support either genocide or the ongoing treatment of the Uyghur people."

As a result, the Independent leader negotiated with Geo Green and agreed not to use Canadian Solar panels, instead opting for JA Solar, which he praised for its transparent supply chain, allowing panels to be traced back to their origin through the use of a QR code.

"The project remains on schedule. We expect to complete the panel installations by the end of March 2025, and we will reduce our carbon footprint as a council and for Leisure SK as part of that," concluded Cllr Baxter.

"We are revitalising a neglected facility and we are becoming more sustainable."

Canadian Solar is one of the main names behind the Mallard Pass Solar Farm which is slated to be the largest solar farm in the country. It is being developed on the border of Stamford and Rutland by Windel Energy and Recurrent Energy, the latter of which is a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc.

Despite opposition from local residents, SKDC, and Mrs Kearns, the 2,000-acre solar farm, expected to power around 92,000 homes each year, was approved by the Labour government just over a week after the General Election in July.

The firm has been approached for a comment on SKDC opting for a new supplier.

In May 2022, CEO and chairman Dr Shawn Qu insisted that no evidence of forced labour within the company's supply chain had been found.

He said: "Canadian Solar strongly condemns the illegal practice of modern slavery or forced labor of any kind. We are confident in the management quality processes that we have in place across our international supply chains. We have undertaken internal investigations and found no evidence of forced labor within our company or our supply chain.

"Canadian Solar continues to take steps to ensure that our supply chain remains free of modern slavery and forced labour. We have published clear policies and processes relating to the prevention of modern slavery and forced labor. We work with national trade bodies to agree and implement strong and accountable supply chain protocols."