The renewable energy generated by the solar panels will meet 12 per cent of the site’s power usage, saving 17 tonnes of carbon annually and supporting Scottish Water’s drive to reach net zero emissions by 2040.
The project has been led by Scottish Water Horizons, the public utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by contractor R&A Group.
The renewable energy generated by the solar panels will meet 14.5 per cent of the site’s power usage including the office building, saving 96 tonnes of carbon annually and supporting Scottish Water’s drive to reach net zero emissions by 2040.
The project has been led by Scottish Water Horizons, the public utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by renewable energy specialists Emtec Energy.
Alison Croft, the company’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Transition Project Manager, and Paul Wilkinson, EV Transition Technical Specialist, will be showcasing one of its new electric vehicles as they take part in the Electric Vehicle Rally of Scotland (EVROS) .
“This award demonstrates that Scottish Water has made substantial progress on climate change mitigation and adaptation and has been assessed as an internationally leading utility.”
Alex Plant
CEO, Scottish Water
The scheme, at Howden Water Treatment Works near Selkirk, consists of 2,112 ground-mounted solar panels and 15 racks of batteries to store the power generated – which will meet over a third of the site’s power usage and support Scottish Water’s drive to reach net zero emissions by 2040.
The site, located in Cumnock, has been fitted out with a combination of ground and roof-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, helping to lower the carbon footprint of waste water services in the surrounding areas.
The projects have seen 512 photovoltaic (PV) panels installed at Bothwellbank Waste Water Treatment Works in South Lanarkshire, which are able to generate 0.23GWh of power and will offset around a fifth of the site’s energy needs.
The first of its kind in the UK, the scheme has seen the installation of a hydro turbine at Hamilton Waste Water Treatment Works in South Lanarkshire and is expected to generate 0.42GWh of green electricity each year – the equivalent of boiling around 1.8 million kettles annually.
The publicly owned utility has teamed up with United Utilities to work with tech innovators ChangeMaker3D and Manchester Metropolitan University to develop ‘printfrastructure’.
A total of 10 new EVs are now in operation across Orkney, including Westray, Sanday, Eday, North Ronaldsay and the Orkney Mainland.
These join 96 other vans that are already in operation across the organisation, with aims to increase that number to 179 by the end of this financial year. In addition, a total of 135 Scottish Water sites have chargers installed, with plans for 400 sites to cater for the fleet by 2028.