Scottish Water’s commercial subsidiary Scottish Water Horizons has installed 532 ground-mounted solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels at its Glassford service reservoir.

The carbon reducing technology will offset 20 per cent of the electricity required to operate the facility, with the new solar PV system generating 0.174GWh of energy on an annual basis –the same amount of energy needed to power around 50 homes for a year.

Ian Piggott, Project Manager at Scottish Water Horizons who led the project delivery commented:

“PV power is instrumental in helping tackle climate change and reducing our carbon footprint. Despite the challenging climate we currently find ourselves in we’re delighted that this project, which was delivered by renewable energy solutions specialists Absolute Solar and Wind on behalf of Scottish Water Horizons, has been completed.

“A host of COVID-19 compliant measures were implemented to make that possible. Project workers followed social distancing rules throughout, their use of welfare facilities was staggered, and a rigorous on-site cleaning regime helped make working conditions safer.”

The £185,000 investment at Glassford joins a long list of PV schemes already installed at many treatment works and other Scottish Water assets across Scotland. To date, 8.3 megawatts of PV power has been installed at over 45 sites, generating 6.6 gigawatt hours of renewable energy every year.

Scottish Water has committed to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040 with an interim target to host or self-generate three times its annual electricity consumption by 2030. Currently more than 70 of the utility’s water and waste water treatment works are now either self-sufficient or partly sufficient in their power requirements.