CONSTRUCTION of a “first of its kind in Europe” hydro energy scheme has been completed at a Scots reservoir, the country’s water service has said.
Scottish Water, a statutory corporation owned by the taxpayer, announced the completion of its £3 million development at Whiteadder Reservoir in East Lothian on Monday.
The scheme uses siphons to draw water up over the side of the dam, through a hydro turbine, and back into the natural environment.
Scottish Water said that it is expected to offset “almost a third of the energy used by one of East Lothian’s largest pumping stations, named Hungry Snout, which takes around 32 millions litres of water per day to Castle Moffat Water Treatment Works”. The works at Castle Moffat supply most of the East Lothian region with drinking water.
“Scottish Water’s £3m investment in this innovative technology, the first of its kind in Europe, is maximising the value of our water resources, reducing emissions and delivering benefits to customers by reducing costs which can be re-invested.
“Further investment in innovative technology will be required to adapt to the challenges presented by climate change, ensuring our water supply is more resilient and our waterways cleaner.”
The project has been led by Scottish Water Horizons, the public utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by renewable energy specialists Emtec Energy.
Senior project manager at Scottish Water Horizons Neil Beaumont said: “We are delighted to have completed construction of this exciting project which will produce enough green energy to meet 30% of the power needs of the Hungry Snout pumping station and reduce our reliance on drawing energy from the national grid.
“We also wanted to ensure our carbon footprint was as low as possible throughout the construction process, which is why we used divers and barges to sink the pipes under the water – this was a much less intrusive and carbon intensive way of installing the new infrastructure than more traditional methods.”
He added: “The scheme will ensure that we are protecting the water levels of the reservoir via smart controls and sensors, so that we are never taking too much water in order to power the hydro turbine – the reservoir’s primary function is to provide water to customers.”
Scottish Water’s general manager for net zero Elise Cartmell said: “Scottish Water is always looking for opportunities to create renewable energy via our assets, and this scheme joins over 30 hydro turbines already installed at our sites around the country.
“In the coming year, this number is set to increase as work starts on further hydro power schemes – we are proud to be leading the sector with innovative projects such as these which lower the carbon footprint of the local water supply.
“As a business, we are fully committed to meeting our ambitious net zero emission targets, and will continue to ramp up our production of green energy as quickly as we can.”
