Black & Veatch has been engaged as design and build contractor on Scottish Water’s hydropower programme to undertake the retrofit of hydro turbines at a number of sites.

Black & Veatch will be supporting Scottish Water’s ambitious hydropower generation programme on a number of design and build projects to boost Scotland’s renewable energy generation capacity. Scottish Water assets are being developed through the addition of hydro turbines at several raw water and treated potable water locations.

Steve Canney, Black & Veatch - Director of Capital Delivery said the firm’s 40-year history of planning and executing renewable energy projects, made it well placed to help clients generate energy from water and that through maximised use of existing assets the work would further enhance the sustainable benefits of the schemes for Scottish Water.

Some of the principal challenges the hydro projects present include installing new equipment in existing water infrastructure without interrupting service, ensuring efficient performance, and delivering reliability with minimal maintenance.

The considerable flow in large water supply pipes will be used to produce renewable energy, thereby reducing the amount of electricity Scottish Water needs to buy from the National Grid. The work will reduce the power costs for water treatment and is expected to play a key part in keeping Scottish Water’s operating expenditure down.

Iain McMillan, Senior Project Manager with Scottish Water, commented:

“We are looking to produce more of our own energy to reduce the long term costs of delivering water and waste water services. In doing so, we can keep customer charges stable and affordable.

“We currently have 10 hydro schemes in operation, while 41 other sites are in development. The project forms a key component of Scottish Water’s Climate Change Strategy and efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.

“The hydropower programme aligns with the Scottish Government’s aim of building a Hydro Nation, which includes harnessing Scotland’s renewable energy potential from water and the wider Scottish Water estate.”

Scottish Water is the fourth-largest water and wastewater provider in the UK. The utility owns around 70,000 acres in Scotland, including high ground with potential value for onshore wind and hydro schemes. About 1.9 percent of land surface in Scotland is covered by freshwater, with around 70 percent of the area and 90 percent of the volume of all the UK’s inland surface water found in Scotland.

Scottish Water’s asset base is already generating over 28,000 megawatt hours renewable energy per annum. The schemes being delivered by Black & Veatch will contribute an additional 9,500 megawatt hours of sustainable, green energy per annum.

Scottish Water has agreed with the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) a target to increase renewable energy generation from its assets by 25,000 megawatt hours per annum before 31st March 2015.