Scottish Water’s head office in Stepps is set to be home to one of the largest solar carports in the country, as work gets underway on a major £2.4 million renewables project.
Image: A render of what the car port scheme will look like once complete
Scottish Water’s head office in Stepps is set to be home to one of the largest solar carports in the country, as work gets underway on a major £2.4 million renewables project.
The scheme will see 2,250 bifacial solar panels, which soak up sunlight from both sides, installed at the site providing a covered car parking area that also produces enough green energy to meet over one third of the site’s power needs.
Once up and running, the panels will generate around 1 MW of renewable energy annually, saving 160 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year..
The project is being led by Scottish Water Horizons, the publicly owned utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by OCS. Work is expected to be complete by summer 2026.
Scottish Water Chief Executive Alex Plant said:
“This is a really exciting project for Scottish Water and highlights our commitment to achieving our net zero targets by 2040.
“Choosing to deliver our first solar carport scheme at our head office is a clear statement of our intent. We are putting sustainability right at the heart of where we work – rethinking everyday spaces and turning them into something that is greener, smarter and ready for the future.”
Scottish Water Horizons project manager Keliann Arthur added:
“After months of planning and preparatory work, it is great to see this major project starting to be delivered on site at such an important location for Scottish Water.
“We are very grateful to staff at the office for their engagement with the project so far, which has been hugely positive and we are working hard to minimise any disruption during construction.
Once complete, the project will provide 34% of the energy needed to operate the office, marking a further significant step in the watrer company’s journey towards net zero.
The carport is the latest in over 92 solar schemes already in place on Scottish Water sites, helping to power essential water and waste water processes up and down the country. Cumulatively they generate around 28.7GWh of green energy a year.
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