Scottish Water has completed a £675,000 solar scheme at its waste water treatment works in Bathgate, as part of its drive to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

The project has seen 792 ground-mounted solar panels installed at the site, with an expected annual generation of 0.3GWh of green energy – equivalent to the energy needed to boil around 1.3 million kettles.

The renewable energy generated by the solar panels will meet 12 per cent of the site’s power usage, resulting in an annual carbon saving of 63 tonnes.

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The project was led by Scottish Water Horizons, the public utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by renewable energy specialists Absolute Solar and Wind.

"We are delighted to have completed this solar scheme at our waste water treatment works in Bathgate, adding to Scottish Water’s fast-growing portfolio of renewable projects across the country," said Keliann Arthur, Project Manager at Scottish Water Horizons. "We remain focused on achieving our ambitious net zero emissions target by 2040 and are continuing to ramp up our response to the climate crisis by increasing the pace and scale at which we are delivering green energy projects."

Neal Legowski, Operations Team Leader at Scottish Water, added: "The treatment works in Bathgate operates around the clock, treating the waste water from thousands of homes in the area. It is a large user of electricity so it is great that some of our power usage is now being met by green energy from this scheme – cutting our carbon emissions and helping us on our net zero journey."