Deputy First Minister marks next phase of Digarbon investment at Cardiff Metropolitan University
£6.267 million investment for Cyncoed sports centre decarbonisation
A major boost for decarbonisation in Welsh universities and colleges has been unveiled at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Llandaff campus.
During a visit to the site, Huw Irranca-Davies, the deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, announced the successful applicants of Digarbon Round 2, marking a significant step in the sector’s journey towards net zero.
Our teams at Salix deliver the Digarbon funding on behalf of Welsh Government. The fund provides loan funding for further and higher education institutions in Wales to support the implementation of heat decarbonisation, energy efficiency, renewable, and electric vehicle and electric vehicle charging infrastructure measures
Bringing together Welsh Government officials, Salix and senior university leaders, the visit underscored how national policy is being translated into tangible, on-the-ground action across the education estate.
Welcoming guests to Maritime House, president and vice chancellor, Professor Rachael Langford, highlighted Cardiff Met’s leadership in environmental sustainability and its commitment to sharing learning across the sector.
She said: “Earlier this year, Cardiff Met was proud to win the Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership Award at the Times Higher Education Awards, recognising our innovative and transferable approaches to tackling environmental challenges, particularly energy use in empty buildings.
“For us, sustainability is about meaningful collaboration and action. We have been sharing our work across the sector because what we have learnt here can benefit people across Wales.
“As the largest provider of teachers and social workers in Wales, we are committed to leading by example.”
Reflecting on his own connection to the institution, the deputy first minister noted that his first role on returning to Wales was at Cardiff Met’s Cyncoed campus. He praised the collective expertise in the room and the leadership shown by the sector.
He said: “It’s brilliant to be among individuals with such a range of experience and excellence. There is real leadership being shown in terms of decarbonisation, and it’s great to see such strong buy-in from higher and further education and the wider public sector.”
This is about transformation – stepping on the accelerator to decarbonise the future, creating jobs, supporting the economy and delivering real, tangible action. We can’t do this alone. Cardiff Metropolitan is proving what we can achieve when we all work together and keep driving forward on this agenda.”
Turning funding into delivery
A detailed presentation from Graham Lewis, chief officer for university environments, set out how Cardiff Metropolitan is translating Welsh Government policy into practice through Digarbon, Ynni Cymru and its Halve the Half initiative.
He said: “This funding touches all of our priorities. It has made a huge impact on one of the oldest buildings on our estate and will help us grow the number of people who can be included in how our facilities are used.”
He outlined how Digarbon funding will support the Cyncoed campus sports centre decarbonisation project, which will see the S Block sports centre transition fully to low-carbon heating and ventilation systems. The upgrade will cover the swimming pool, sports hall, squash courts, teaching spaces and offices, delivering expected annual carbon savings of 127.83 tonnes of CO₂.
Ben O’Connell, director of sport, highlighted the importance of the facility to the wider community.
He said: “This is a mixed-use building with teaching spaces, studios and sports facilities used by students and the local community. Around 3,000 children swim here every week and through our work with the council, we’ve increased inclusion in the school swimming programme from 57 per cent to 74 per cent.”
Graham Lewis added that the project will replace asbestos roofing and walls, remove gas heating, upgrade ventilation and legacy systems, and fundamentally change how power is generated and distributed across campus.
He said: “The funding is enabling us to reconfigure our electrical infrastructure, adopt elements of national grid infrastructure and move power more effectively across the estate.
“It will allow us to halve electrical consumption, reduce grid reliance by 49 per cent, create future heat electrification capacity and achieve a significant increase in on-site generation.”
Beyond bricks and mortar
The presentation also highlighted Cardiff Metropolitan’s Ynni Cymru-funded solar PV and DC microgrid project at Llandaff, alongside the university’s Halve the Half initiative, which targets energy use outside core operating hours.
Graham Lewis said: “We had a revelation that around half of our energy was being used outside of the Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm working day. Morally, we must do more with our existing estate.
”By focusing on existing buildings, revealing waste and understanding demand, we’ve secured £5.1 million in savings so far, with £53 million in long-term savings projected. Gas consumption is down 22.3 per cent and electricity use by 7.5 per cent.”
A national moment
The visit provided a valuable opportunity to announce the successful applicants under Digarbon Round 2, marking a significant step forward for decarbonisation across Wales’s further and higher education sector. With £15.3 million in loan funding awarded, four universities and colleges will now progress major energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation projects.
Alongside Cardiff Metropolitan University, which will decarbonise its Cyncoed campus sports centre, the successful projects include Swansea University’s Singleton Campus heat decarbonisation (Phase 2), Bangor University’s Brambell Building upgrade, and Coleg Cambria’s Yale E Block decarbonisation project. These investments will help the sector reduce emissions, modernise estates and lower energy costs.
Bringing the visit to Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Llandaff campus also created an opportunity to explore how national policy frameworks such as Digarbon, Ynni Cymru and Halve the Half are being applied in practice within a university setting. Discussions throughout the morning reinforced a shared commitment across the sector to translating ambition into delivery through collaboration, innovation and sustained investment.
At Salix we’re proud to deliver Digarbon on behalf of Welsh Government – making a difference across Wales. For more information about the fund see our website area here.
