Severn Trent will make its energy usage data public, so experts and enthusiasts can look for ways the water company could make energy savings in the future.
It is hosting a data hackathon at its headquarters in Coventry on 18 and 19 June for businesses, universities and people with relevant expertise to attend.
The company said it already generates 38 per cent of the energy it uses and aims to increase this to 50 per cent by 2020.
It has achieved its current figure with investments in renewable energy technology, largely through the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge and food waste as well as through solar, hydro and wind turbine technology.
Severn Trent, which serves eight million people across the Midlands and mid-Wales, uses around 900GWh of electricity every year, which equates to a bill of approximately £100 million.
Prizes will be offered to teams of four that provide the best insights and energy-saving ideas in response to the data at the hackathon.
Howard Perry, energy manager for Severn Trent, said: “Energy is one of the biggest costs to our business; we serve a huge geographical area and need to pump large amounts of water and waste to and from our customers. In fact the energy we use equates to the annual usage of about 250,000 households.
“We’ve invested large amounts in developing renewable energy technology with a target to generate half of what we use by 2020, and we’re also working hard to reduce our energy usage as much as possible – but we know there’s more to be done.”
He added: “That’s why we’re making this data public and are inviting leading data experts to help us shape the future of the company. This is all about getting a fresh pair of eyes on the way we use energy to see what innovations we can take advantage of to make us even more efficient.
“Any savings we can make on our energy bills will reduce our operating costs, which is great news for our customers as it will help us to keep bills low.”
Severn Trent’s chief executive Liv Garfield was named Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the year last week.
Yorkshire Water recently held its first solveIT hackathon event to discover “technology-led and data driven” opportunities which could help the company predict potential flooding and pollution incidents.
Data for Severn Trent will be released two weeks in advance of the hackathon to registered parties. To register interest email EnergyEnquiries@severntrent.co.uk.
A live hackathon will be held at the NEC in Birmingham as part of Utility Week Live next week.