Friday 7 August 2020

Scottish Water Horizons installs solar panels at reservoir to speed up net zero journey

The commercial subsidiary owned by Scottish Water, Scottish Water Horizons, has installed almost 1,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels at one of its service reservoirs in Fife to offset a quarter of the electricity needed to operate the facility.

The new 297kW solar PV system, which was built under an investment of £325,000, is set to generate enough energy to power around 75 homes and is forecast to save 73 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent every year.

Scottish Water has pledged to reach net zero by 2040.

Eddie Johnstone, Senior Project Manager at Scottish Water Horizons, said: "The energy needed to provide customers with essential water and wastewater services makes Scottish Water the largest single user of electricity in the country.

"We are committed to finding alternative ways to develop and accelerate green energy schemes to reduce that carbon footprint."

To date, Scottish Water Horizons has installed more than 45 solar PV schemes to offset the energy requirement of Scottish Water’s treatment works around the country.