Renewable Energy Developer Helps Welsh Water Cut Carbon Emissions

Leading renewable energy developer Dulas (UK) has announced today that it has completed work on the second phase of a 2.5 MW solar project, which will provide energy for D?r Cymru Welsh Water’s Five Fords waste water treatment works in Wrexham. Supporting the utility’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, Dulas has already installed almost 8,000 PV panels on the Wrexham site during phase one of the project. As part of the deal, it installed a further 2,100 panels by the end of December.

As established UK utilities look to reduce their carbon footprint and comply with increasingly complex Government legislation, water management firms are being forced to think creatively about how these targets will be met. As a result, Dulas has led the way in developing a series of successful partnerships with major utilities and suppliers, in order to enable them to meet compliance targets and unlock the long-term commercial benefits of renewable energy use.

With a thirty-year track record of delivering unparalleled technical excellence, Dulas is well-placed to support the needs of an increasingly environmentally aware utilities sector. The site chosen for the Five Fords project was poor quality land that offered no further commercial benefits, but nevertheless proved ideal for solar installation.

As a direct result, Dulas has enabled D?r Cymru Welsh Water to make use of the land and reduce the energy footprint of the waste water treatment site, installing a total of almost 10,000 solar panels and delivering 2.5 MW of clean energy to the utility.

This project will help D?r Cymru Welsh Water meet its 2007 carbon reduction targets of at least 50% by 2032, and paves the way for other large-scale utilities to make use of available land for future renewable energy projects.

“As UK utility firms come under increasing pressure to optimise energy use, reduce their carbon footprint and comply with increasingly stringent government regulation, it’s apparent that, for many operational sites, it’s no longer business as usual,” said Alistair Marsden, Commercial Director, Dulas.

“With an unparalleled focus on continuing to deliver technical excellence, our work with Welsh Water demonstrates our thirty-plus year quest to develop innovative, commercially focused solutions to the companies and individuals that need it most.

Marsden added, “The solar panels Dulas has installed for D?r Cymru Welsh Water, on otherwise commercially redundant land, have been a major step towards enabling the utility company to keep its carbon reduction plan on track.”

Mike Pedley, Head of Energy, D?r Cymru Welsh Water said, “It’s no secret that traditional water treatment works are energy intensive operations that provide critical services to local communities, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. 

“So at Five Fords we are creating an innovative Energy Park that will maximise the sustainability of the plant. With these 10,0000 panels now fully operational, Dulas have delivered one of the key components of that Energy Park vision and it has been good to work with a partner that understood our goals and our culture as a not-for-profit organisation.

“Working with Dulas, we’ve not only got a reliable, cost effective low carbon reduction solution, but also improved energy resilience at this critical works.”