Water Treatment in Wigtonshire Gets Solar Energy Boost

Work on a £314,000 solar project at a water treatment works which supplies thousands of customers in and around a Wigtonshire town with drinking water is now complete. 
 
The project has seen 294 tank top solar panels installed at the site at Penwhirn Reservoir, close to Stranraer, and is expected to generate 0.159GWh of green energy a year – the same amount needed to boil around 706,666 kettles. 
 
The solar energy will meet almost a fifth of the site’s power needs and  will save around 31 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year, making the treatment of water at the site less carbon intensive and helping Scottish Water get closer towards meeting its goal of net zero emissions by 2040.

The project has been led by Scottish Water Horizons, the publicly owned utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by contractor R&A Group. 

Scottish Water Horizons Project Manager Pat Stakim said: “We’re delighted to complete this solar project at Penwhirn water treatment works, which will help cut the carbon associated with providing this essential service to thousands of local customers. 
 
“In the past three years, Scottish Water has installed 14.4GWh of solar energy across its sites, compared to 9.6GWh in the previous 12 years - we are continuing to ramp up the scale and pace of delivering renewables projects across the country, all of which are helping us towards are net zero emissions target for 2040.” 

Scottish Water Operations Team Leader Michael McMinn said: “It is great to have this solar project complete and in operation, helping us make the process of providing fresh, clean drinking water to our customers less carbon intensive and better for the environment. 
 
“Almost a fifth of our power usage on site will now be met through solar power which is another step towards cutting our carbon emissions and reaching our net zero emissions target.”