A NEW £7m solar farm is now operational, producing enough electricity to power one of the north's largest water treatment plants.
NI Water has today drastically reduced its carbon footprint by the launch of the new solar farm on a 33 acre site on the eastern shore of Lough Neagh. The new 24,000 panel solar farm will power the Dunore Water Treatment Works (WTW) in south Antrim. and is expected to save over half a million pounds annually in energy costs for the company.
As well as meeting the energy needs of the Dunore WTW, the project will also enable the company to contribute spare capacity to the grid.
NI Water is Northern Ireland's biggest user of electricity and Dunore is its third largest site in terms of energy consumption accounting for 7 per cent of the company’s annual usage.
Speaking at the completion of the latest project, NI Water CEO, Sara Venning said the new solar farm is another step in reducing the company's carbon footprint.
“As the largest user of electricity in Northern Ireland, we are committed to finding innovative renewable energy projects to reduce our expenditure on power, which has already tumbled by £5m over the last three years. The Dunore solar farm is a major step toward reaching our goal of increasing electricity consumption from renewable sources from the current 13 per cent to 40 per cent by 2021."
NI Water is one of the north's most profitable companies and operates nearly £3bn worth of assets, providing 570 million litres of clean drinking water and recycling 340 million litres of used water safely back to the environment
“ Our commitment is to ensure we operate as efficiently and cleanly as possible, safeguarding our environment for future generations.Dunore is one of many innovative renewable energy projects which NI Water is developing to ensure we become more energy efficient while also making cost savings to our business. This flagship project will also save around 2000 tonnes of carbon every year," Mrs Venning added.
Graham Construction carried out the project, alongside suppliers RPS, Greencells and Scotts Electrical
Graham Civil Engineering managing director, Leo Martin said they were delighted to work on another NI Water project.
"It’s an impressive achievement, with 24,000 solar panels now helping to provide a peak output of 4.99 megawatts, with spare capacity going to the grid."
