The generous introduction of 1,560 ground-mounted solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels at Alexandria Water Treatment Works (WTW) near Loch Lomond will help save almost 77 carbon dioxide equivalent tonnes of carbon per annum. Scottish Water invested £951,000 to bring the carbon-reducing scheme to fruition.

Over half of the electricity required to operate the works will be offset, with the total PV array generating 0.56GWh of energy on an annual basis. That is the same amount of energy needed to boil around 371,000 kettles, or for a standard electric car to travel 222,400 miles which is enough to travel nine times around Earth.

Donald MacBrayne, business development and delivery manager at Scottish Water Horizons, the public utility’s commercial subsidiary, said: “With the worrying news that July was the hottest month on record world-wide, we are pleased that our latest solar project to help combat climate change is now operational. In what has been described as an existential threat, we must all take bold steps to increase the pace and scale in our net zero journeys.

“At Scottish Water, we are already accelerating the pace and increasing the scale of our green schemes to help meet our ambitious net zero targets. We are committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040, with an interim target to host or self-generate three times our annual electricity consumption by 2030.

“One of the ways that we do this is by helping our customers lower their carbon footprint. This latest solar project at Alexandria Water Treatment Works contributes greatly towards reducing our carbon footprint, benefiting the environment, and helping to keep our customer charges among the lowest in the UK.”

Not only is the renewable energy helping local customers but the project was installed by one of Scottish Water Horizons’ contractors Absolute Solar and Wind, a company based just outside Alexandria.

Taylor Copeland, a modern apprentice with the company, said: “I really enjoyed working on this project and seeing how it all comes together. Experience in these projects is great for my development in the renewables industry”.

Several solar projects are currently under construction across Scottish Water’s property portfolio, all helping the organisation’s net zero journey and supporting a flourishing Scotland. Currently, almost 80 of Scottish Water’s water and waste water treatment works are now either self-sufficient or partly sufficient in their power requirements.

Electric vehicle charging facilities have also been installed at Alexandria WTW to support the transition of Scottish Water’s 1,600-vehicle fleet of vans and tankers from fossil fuels to clean electricity.