A Scottish Water drinking water tank which helps distribute clean water to residents across West Dunbartonshire is now significantly greener thanks to 548 solar panels which have been installed on top of it.
The £485,000 scheme, based at a distribution service reservoir in Old Kilpatrick, will see almost half of the site’s energy needs met by renewable power. It is set to save 48 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.
The panels, which have been installed on top of the water tank, are expected to generate 0.26GWh of green energy per year – the same amount needed to boil around 1.2 million kettles.
The project has been led by Scottish Water Horizons, the publicly-owned utility’s commercial subsidiary, and delivered by renewable energy specialists Emtec Energy.
Scottish Water Horizons Project Manager, Keliann Arthur, said:
“We are delighted to have completed work on this project in Old Kilpatrick, kicking off 2025 on a positive note – the scheme will see 46 per cent of the energy needs at the site, which is key in distributing clean water to residents in the area, met by renewable power from the solar panels.
“We are looking forward to helping deliver many more renewable energy projects including solar and hydro schemes in the coming year.”
Scottish Water Operations Team Leader Iain MacSwan added:
“Many residents across West Dunbartonshire will be supplied with water via this service reservoir and it is fantastic that almost half of the power needed to run the site will now be generated by these solar panels.
“The scheme really makes the most of the space available at the site and helps take us that bit further towards our 2040 net zero goals.”
