Yorkshire Water is constructing a new anaerobic digestion plant at its waste water treatment works in Sheffield, which wil generate renewable electricity and cut the company's carbon emissions.

The £23.3million facility is expected to generate up to 1.9 megawatts of renewable electricity from sludge, helping power the treatment of domestic and industrial waste from 830,000 of Yorkshire Water customers.

Richard Flint, chief executive of Yorkshire Water, said:

““Being able to generate our own electricity from our own renewable sources allows us to take another step forward in the direction of environmental responsibility.”

Yorkshire Water estimates that the plant at Blackburn Meadows will reduce its carbon emissions by the equivalent of 6,500 tonnes, while greenhouse gases will be cut by nearly 30 per cent.

The anaerobic digester at Blackburn Meadows will be its largest single site plant when finished in September 2014. It is part of a wider £78m scheme to overhaul the works and treat larger volumes of waste water more efficiently and to a higher standard.

The work is to be carried out by the joint venture of AECOM and Galliford Try. AECOM announced that it had won a £49 million contract with Yorkshire Water earlier this month, part of which was for the construction of the new anaerobic digestion plant.