United Utilities engineers are making some of the final connections ahead of the switch-on of Europe’s biggest floating solar power system.

 12,000 panels have been installed at Godley reservoir in Manchester. The system, which cost £3.5 million, will provide the water firm with 2.7GWh of energy every year – which is more than a third of Godley’s power requirements.

Over the last 12 weeks, the panels and their floats have been connected together and positioned in the middle of the reservoir. Covering a total of 45,500 square metres, the scheme is part of United Utilities’ ongoing carbon reduction strategy. The water firm has a target to generate 35 per cent of its power requirements from renewables by 2020.

United Utilities wants to reduce its annual £65 million energy costs which, ultimately, will help to keep customer bills as low as possible.

See the time-lapse video to see the work in progress on the Waterbriefing Watch channel