Blofield Business Centre
A living model of sustainable infrastructure
Blofield Business Centre, located just outside Norwich, is home to RenEnergy’s UK operations and a vibrant community of 18 tenant businesses. Once a modest renewable energy demonstration site, it has since grown into a fully-fledged commercial hub - serving over 70 professionals and showcasing what’s possible when sustainability is built into the fabric of business.
The ambition
In 2023, the centre faced a sharp escalation in operational risk:
Annual energy costs had surged from £17,000 to over £60,000.
The original roofing, containing asbestos, posed growing structural concerns.
These challenges prompted a strategic reassessment of the centre’s energy and infrastructure strategy - creating the opportunity to align maintenance upgrades with sustainability goals.
The solution
RenEnergy designed and delivered a fully integrated solar and storage solution that transformed both the resilience and efficiency of the site:
All asbestos roofing was safely removed and replaced, improving building safety and creating a suitable surface for solar integration.
A 126 kWp solar PV system was installed across rooftops and modular carports, maximising available surface area for clean energy generation.
A 215 kWh battery energy storage system was deployed to increase energy self-sufficiency, enable load shifting, and unlock additional cost savings through energy arbitrage.
This approach modernised the business centre’s infrastructure, cut operating costs, and future-proofed its energy systems - all without compromising functionality or aesthetics.
System Performance
Metric
Solar PV Capacity
Battery Storage
Estimated Annual Generation
Energy Self-Sufficiency
Solar Payback PeriodBattery Payback Period (with arbitrage)
Annual CO₂ Savings
Embedded CO₂ Payback
Value
126 kWp
215 kWh
115,023 kWh
73%
7 years
5.3 years
14,377.8 kg
5.04 years
*The carbon savings are equivalent to boiling around 239,631 kettles - enough for millions of cups of tea.
The Outcomes
The project has:
Drastically reduced grid dependency ✔
Delivered financial resilience through predictable energy costs ✔
Transformed underutilised infrastructure into functional, energy-generating assets ✔
Improved tenant satisfaction with covered parking and sustainable credentials ✔
Why It Matters
Blofield Business Centre now operates as a high-efficiency, low-carbon commercial site, proving that even small-to-medium enterprises can take bold steps toward energy independence and ESG alignment. By pairing infrastructure investment with solar and storage, the project turned risk into opportunity - lowering utility costs while increasing asset value and sustainability performance.
“We’ve proven that sustainable infrastructure isn’t just for large corporates - it’s achievable, scalable, and commercially smart for SMEs too. By integrating solar and storage into a necessary infrastructure upgrade, we’ve created a resilient, low-carbon hub that supports both our business and the wider community. It’s a model for what the future of small business environments can and should look like.”
Damian Baker, Managing Director, RenEnergy UK
Key Takeaways
Tying infrastructure upgrades to solar projects boosts ROI.
Energy storage unlocks more than backup power - it enables smarter, cheaper energy use.
Energy self-sufficiency is possible for SMEs, not just large enterprises.
Sustainably operated spaces can attract mission-aligned tenants and partners.
Note that all estimated performance figures are calculated using industry-standard systems and norms, assume ideal operating conditions, and would have been estimated as at the time of the installation.