Affinity Water’s solar arrays have generated more than 1,095 MWh of electricity since April, the company said, as it plans to add solar generation at a further 28 sites.
The water company said it had saved more than £215,000 in energy costs during the summer thanks to the arrays, which produced an average of 7,640 kWh daily throughout June.
As part of its efforts to drive down carbon, Affinity, like others across the water industry, has looked to ramp up its self-generation through a partnership for the first phase of its solar array plan.
“We chose Centrica Business Solutions and UPOWA (formerly HBS New Energies) because we’re new to this,” said Steve Plumb, asset strategy and capital delivery director at Affinity. “We needed to partner with their supply chains and draw on their expertise to install the solar panels efficiently and safely. We plan to do a further 28 sites in phase two to generate 10% of our electricity through solar. We also have some further large-scale proposals that we are excited about and want to develop in the future.”
Ramping up self-generation is part of the company’s ambition to be operationally net zero by 2030 for scope 1 & 2 emissions and net zero by 2050. The company anticipates investing £29 million in solar power as part of a wider renewables and energy efficiency programme.
Preparations are underway to add solar generation at the next 28 sites with the aim of generating up to 23.5 MW.
The company anticipates this will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95,000 tonnes over the 20-year asset life and save £4.38 million based on current electricity rates.