SCOTLAND’S largest waste water pumping station is now partly powered by renewable energy, after work was completed on a £478,000 solar power scheme.
The Scottish Water site, in Gailes near Irvine, has seen 576 solar panels installed on the ground and roof of the pumping station, generating around 0.27GWh of green energy each year.
The work means that 7% of the power used by the pumping station – which returns treated waste water back to the sea – is now provided by solar energy, saving around 54 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.
The site is the first Scottish Water solar project to see the use of in-line mounted solar panels which were built into the structure of the pumping station roof while it was being replaced.
A range of biodiversity work is also in the process of being delivered at the site, including the planting of wildflowers and hedges, and installation of bat and hedgehog boxes. The project was led by Scottish Water Horizons, the public utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by R&A Group.
Scottish Water Horizons project manager, Pauline Donnelly, said, “It is great to see this project completed and to have more solar energy now powering the processes all our customers rely on across Scotland. In the last three years we’ve installed more solar energy than in the previous 12 combined, with capacity for 14.4 GWh installed compared to 9.6 GWh, and we continue to ramp up the pace and scale of our renewables programme as we respond to the climate crisis and focus on meeting our net zero targets by 2040.”
Scottish Water operations team leader, Ian MacKinnon, added, “The pumping station at Gailes is the largest in Scotland and as such, is a big user of energy, helping to return treated waste water back to the natural environment. It is great that some of the carbon associated with this essential process is now being offset by renewable energy, helping us to meet our net zero ambitions.”
Scottish Water has also completed work on a £1.4 million solar project at a site in Inverness, which will help power essential waste water services in the area with renewable energy.
The project has seen almost 1,500 solar panels installed on the ground and roof of the waste waterpumping station on Longman Drive, which helps transport waste water from thousands of customers in Inverness to Allanfearn where it is treated and returned to the water environment.
The panels are expected to generate around 0.74GWh of green energy a year, enough to boil around 3.3 million kettles and will save 101 tonnes of carbon – roughly the same as 450 flights from Inverness to London.
Around a quarter of the site’s power needs will now be met by renewable energy, with a proportion of the energy generated also being sold back to the national grid. The project has been led by Scottish Water Horizons, the public utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by renewables specialists Absolute Solar & Wind.
Scottish Water Horizons, project manager Tom Clayton, said, “We are delighted to have completed work on this major solar project in Inverness which will see a substantial proportion of the energy needed to operate this site now met by renewable power.
“In the past three years we have installed 14.4GWh of solar energy across Scottish Water sites, compared to 9.6GWh in the previous 12 which underlines our commitment to ramping up the pace and scale of our renewables programme as we respond to the climate crisis and focus on meeting our net zero targets by 2040.”
