Scottish Water has completed work on a £115,000 solar project at a waste water treatment works which serves customers in and around Milnathort.

Photo: new solar scheme at Milnathort waste water treatment works

The project has seen 172 solar panels installed at the site and is expected to generate 0.07GWh of green energy a year, meeting almost a quarter of the site’s power needs.

Some of the green energy produced by the scheme will also be sold back to the grid, which can then be accessed in the local area.

It will save around 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year, making the treatment of waste water at the site less carbon intensive and helping Scottish Water get closer towards meeting its goal of net zero emissions by 2040.

The project has been led by Scottish Water Horizons, the publicly owned utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by R&A Group.

Scottish Water Horizons Project Manager Pat Stakim said:

“We’re delighted to add Milnathort to the growing list of Scottish Water sites that are now powered in part by renewable energy – these schemes are key in helping us to make the vital services we deliver to customers greener and better for the environment.

“They are also an important step on the journey to net zero by 2040, and we will continue to ramp up the scale and delivery of renewables projects to help us reach our targets.”

Scottish Water Operations Team Leader Mike Galbraith added:

“While this is a relatively small solar project, it will still have a big impact on the energy usage of the site, with almost a quarter of its power needs now being met by renewable energy.

“It is great to see the project complete and helping to make the waste water treatment process less carbon intensive.”