As Affinity Water completes solar array pilots at its Chertsey and Walton treatment works, the firm’s head of energy management Greg Cameron reflects on the challenge of developing a new energy strategy to simultaneously drive performance and weather the highest increase in bills on record.
Since April, Affinity Water’s combined arrays at Chertsey and Walton have generated more than 1,095 MWh of electricity – capitalising on the UK’s summer heatwave to produce a daily average of 7,640kWh of electricity throughout June, saving more than £215,000 in energy costs in the process.
The 1,820 solar panels at Affinity’s Chertsey treatment works – which processes 45 million litres of drinking water per day – have produced up to 21% of site energy since energisation and is projected to achieve 12% as an average for the full 12-month period.