CARDIFF, Wales – Utility Welsh Water has secured a £250 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) which it will use to generate more sustainable electricity for its operations.
As part of the energy generation initiative, the utility has signed a contract with DONG Energy in a bid to reduce its annual energy bill of more than £44 million.
Currently, it generates 20% of its own energy needs through wind, hydro, solar and advance anaerobic digestion – with the aim to increase this to 30% by 2019.
As part of the development, £36 million will be invested to transform the Five Fords wastewater treatment works into an energy park - incorporating solar and hydro and a project to inject bio-methane gas into the national gas distribution network.
An advanced anaerobic digestion plant will also be developed on the site to use the waste the site treats to generate enough energy to supply around 3,000 homes.
Welsh Water said the loan will enable it to deliver a £1.7 billion investment programme between 2015-2020.
Steve Wilson, managing director of wastewater services at Welsh Water, said: “We’ve significantly increased the amount of energy we generate at our sites over the past few years by embracing technologies such as solar panels, hydro turbines, anaerobic digestion and our first wind generation sites in the past 12 months. By incorporating these sources with the green energy we now receive from DONG, we really are able to make a meaningful contribution to protecting our environment from the effects of climate change.”
Welsh Water has benefited from loans of over £800 million from the European Investment Bank since the inception of Glas Cymru in 2001
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