Anglian Water has announced plans to install an 11.6MW solar array at its Grafham Water site in Cambridgeshire.
The nearly 42,000 solar panels are expected to generate more than quarter of the 45GWh of electricity used annually at the site, which contains a reservoir, a water treatment works and a public park, and cut carbon emissions by 3,500 tonnes per year.
Anglian said it has already reduced emissions from construction by 58 per cent since 2010 and emissions from operations by 35 per cent. It is aiming to reach net zero by 2030.
David Riley, head of carbon neutrality at Anglian Water, said: “We supply over six million customers across the East of England with water and water recycling services and the population continues to grow rapidly – in fact this region is one of the fastest growing in the UK and one that is at risk from climate change.
“Our challenge is to address this increasing demand for services sustainably, and it’s that challenge which underpins our ambitious renewable energy strategy.”
He added: “We’ve been working with our supply chain to reduce the energy and materials needed to construct and maintain our assets like sewers and pumping stations, increasing the efficiency of our equipment, and minimising wastage through driving down leakage.
“We are reducing our emissions through our fleet by installing electric vehicle charging points and we now have 10 electric vans. We are also making better use of the by-products from water treatment processes and generating renewable energy to power our operations.
“We’ve already seen a significant reduction in our carbon emissions.”