Anglian to install solar /storage pairing in bid to halve treatment plant power costs

TECHNICAL UPDATE

Anglian Water, is to install 300kWh of power storage batteries alongside solar photovoltaic generation plant at one of its water treatment works. The set up will store surplus solar generated during the day for later use and reduce the site’s reliance on the purchased power.

The project is a partnership with energy storage manufacturer RedT and energy technology firm, Open Energy.

Anglian plans to build more than 30MW of solar capacity under a 25-year PPA contract with HBS New Energies and Macquarie Principal Finance. It will, according to Anglian, reduce its annual emissions by 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and save more than £1m a year. A second solar programme is scheduled to go out to tender “shortly.”

The move is part of Anglian Water’s strategy for achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050.

The company has stepped up its solar capacity by 80% to 450kW at the “pathfinder” site in Norfolk. The solar / storage combination will be marshalled by Open Energi’s software to optimise energy use and deliver value streams for Anglian by providing real-time balancing services from the storage battery to the power grid. Anglian anticipate the project will halve it power costs by 2040.

RedT said its Vanadium redox flow batteries provide more than four hours of storage and “do not degrade like conventional lithium or lead-acid batteries.”