Northumbrian sets 2027 as Emission Possible date

Northumbrian Water has joined the UN-backed Race to Zero global campaign as it announced plans to achieve net zero carbon by 2027 – three years earlier than the industry-wide commitment.

However, to achieve this target process emissions from wastewater and sludge treatment, which currently make up half the company’s emissions, must be offset.

The company’s Emission Possible plan outlines replacing fossil fuels and natural gasses with renewable sources wherever possible. It has committed to adding 30MW of new renewable generation to its asset base by 2027, which will comprise solar, hydroelectric and wind power. Separately it has set a target for zero avoidable waste by 2025.

Since 2008 the company has cut its emissions from 303,000 tonnes of Co2 to 56,000 in 2020.

Northumbrian joins South West, Welsh Water, Anglian, Severn Trent and United Utilities in the UN-backed scheme. The ambition is to mobilise major companies responsible for 20 per cent of global water supply, with the aim of delivering the full decarbonisation of water and wastewater services in 20 countries by 2030.

As part of Northumbrian’s decarbonisation plan, it will trial the use of green fuels in its HGV fleet and has pledged to buy only low-emission vans from 2024, as well as minimising other carbon-intensive travel.

Back-up power generation will be updated with energy storage solutions using green power to ensure resilience of supply service. All space heating currently using natural gas will be replaced with green alternatives such as heat pumps. The use of gas in wastewater treatment processes will be minimised and renewably sourced power will be used wherever possible. Northumbrian is the first water company to use all its sewage sludge to create energy.

It will have the origin of any unmitigated natural gas it uses certified.

The plan says offsets will be used only as a last resort and the company will only buy offsets that are supported by the government and are acceptable under the methodology compiled as part of Water UK’s sector-wide Public Interest Commitment to reach net-zero by 2030.

At present the company has no “feasible or affordable” alternatives to process emissions from wastewater and sludge treatment, which make up half of the company’s total greenhouse gases.

Northumbrian said it has active innovation projects underway to improve the monitoring of nitrous oxide and methane and will keep working to reduce these emissions. It will offset elsewhere any greenhouse gasses that cannot be avoided. The company aims to achieve net zero including the unmitigated gases and will take alternative actions as soon as they become feasible.

Likewise, Northumbrian said it will work with its suppliers to source lower carbon chemicals but cannot stop using essential products in the water and wastewater treatment processes. It will therefore report these embodied emissions from 2025 and via revised procurement processes it will require all suppliers to work towards net zero goals.

Heidi Mottram, chief executive of Northumbrian, said: “When tackling something on this scale, collaboration is key to success, whether it is as a sector, as set out in our industry’s plans to achieve net zero carbon by 2030, or on a global scale as part of the Race To Zero. Nobody has all the answers, but by working together we can share knowledge, ideas and experience in a way that can deliver impactful – and vital – results for our environment.”

Mottram, who is co-lead on the Public Interest Commitment with Anglian’s Peter Simpson, said the plan would allow the company to achieve its net zero goal by 2027.

Andrew Griffith MP called the Race to Zero commitment “a shining example on how it is possible to build a greener, more sustainable water system”.