| Six water treatment plants on the
south coast have installed solar panels in a move that could
save operator Portsmouth Water £4,000 a year in electricity
costs.
Each site has fitted 50kW of solar panels, worth a combined
£700,000, across its reservoir roofs and adjacent land to
produce electricity that will by used on-site to pump and
treat water.
The scale of investment has not been revealed. However,
installers Solarcentury
estimated the panels will generate 42,500 units of electricity
a year, resulting in payments through the feed-in tariff
scheme as well as a reduction in Portsmouth Water's
energy bills.
Nick Roadnight, MD at Portsmouth
Water, said the company is keen to reduce its exposure
to rising electricity prices.
"It is important that, as a user of energy, we look at all the
potential options to reduce the amount of energy we have to
take from the national grid - and, at the same time, look to
reduce our carbon footprint without placing any risk on our
ability to supply water to our customers," he said.
"The installation of solar panels on our sites achieves all
of these objectives and, with around a 25-year life span,
it helps the company have a more sustainable approach to energy
use."
Along with Homesun, Friends of the Earth and several other
firms, Solarcentury has been at the centre of a long-running
legal case challenging the government's plans to cut feed-in
tariff incentives for solar installations with just six weeks'
notice.
The company saw a number of large contracts cancelled as
a result of the proposed changes, but a spokeswoman for the
company said the Portsmouth Water deal may offer a template
that will allow future projects to proceed, despite the expected
cuts to incentives.
She told BusinessGreen there is the possibility of
more similar deals in the pipeline, but declined to provide
further details.
A spokesman for Portsmouth Water added that installing further
panels depended on the outcome of the government's appeal
against the High Court ruling.
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