Anglian opens solar farms at five treatment sites

Anglian Water has stepped up its use of renewable energy with five new solar farms on its sites.

The installations will produce 1.8 million kilowatt hours of energy every year – enough to power 500 homes.

They are based at five sites with a high energy use: Bedford water recycling centre (WRC), Witham WRC near Chelmsford, Whilton WRC near Daventry, Rayleigh West WRC near Basildon and Hall Water Treatment Works near Lincoln.

Anglian Water energy manager Matt Pluke said: “This is very exciting news for us. This is yet another way we can reduce our energy costs and reduce our impact on the climate.

“Across some of our water recycling centres we’ve already installed a fleet of combined heat and power engines, which create energy from the gas released as a by-product of the water recycling process.

“The next step was to identify a number of energy-intensive sites where we can create clean energy from solar panels. By using this space, which would otherwise stand empty, we will be getting the best value out of the land we own, whilst reducing our carbon footprint.”

In the last five years Anglian Water has delivered around 1,000 energy projects, bringing savings of over £16 million, and reducing its carbon footprint.

In November last year Anglian’s chief executive Peter Simpson attended a gathering at the Paris climate summit of business leaders calling for climate action. The event was organised by the Prince of Wales’ Corporate Leaders Group and lead to the Paris Pledge for Action which was signed by 400 businesses calling for quick and effective implementation of the Paris climate deal.

Pluke added: “We’re one of the biggest energy users here in the East of England – we need huge amounts of power to treat and recycle water, and pump it around such a geographically flat area – so we have an obligation to reduce our impact on the climate wherever we can.”

This story first appeared on wwtonline.co.uk