Vivestar used Moata Carbon Portal to assess the carbon impact of the key features of the plant. These included low and medium voltage alternating current installation, and the excavation and cable laying of the communication and grounding systems. Moata Carbon Portal was used to assess several options for each, including materials, labour, and machinery.

The team identified that the largest source of emissions of the solar PV power station lay with the insulated aluminium cables, followed by PVC pipes and bricks, and the copper cables. Aligning to the PAS 2080 principles of decarbonisation, Vivestar methodically approached the design gateway to explore how to optimise carbon reduction for the plant. This was approached to reduce construction cost savings, whilst meeting the project's technical requirements.

Having identified the most carbon intensive materials, Vivestar implemented several innovative approaches. They increased the volume of plastic materials to protect the cables, moving from bricks to plastic plates. Aluminium was reduced by optimising energy cables and solar cables were used more efficiently to reduce the cost of construction. Vivestar also eliminated the need for both the laying and installation of communication cables.

Vivestar’s carbon reduction approach generated both carbon and cost savings for the client, demonstrating that there is scope to decarbonise low-carbon renewable energy plants even further. By using Moata Carbon Portal, the plant’s embodied carbon emissions were reduced by 11.5%, with the main savings due to the replacement of bricks with plastic plates. The optimised use of materials also led to capital expenditure savings of 17%.