S. Himmelstein | June 16, 2023
Processing wastewater and producing electricity are to be twin goals at a facility operated by Scottish Water. Construction is under way to install a pre-fabricated hydro scheme at the Hamilton Waste Water Treatment Works in South Lanarkshire, the first such project in the U.K. Water will flow through the turbine-generator, installed within the pipeline of the plant.
On completion in the second half of 2023, the project, involving installation of a containerized hydropower system mid-process in the wastewater treatment site, is expected to generate 0.42 GWh of green electricity annually and offset 13% of the facility’s annual electricity demand. The hydro turbine will also cut carbon emissions by around 64 tons/year.
Aerial view of Hamilton Waste Water Treatment Works. Source: Groundworks Scotland
According to Neil Beaumont, Horizons Hydro Energy team lead, “To further support our program’s ethos we are being carbon conscious when constructing assets, reusing and repurposing where possible. In the case of the Hamilton site, we will reduce construction emissions by selecting a prefabricated solution that can be manufactured off-site and shipped pre-commissioned. This will enable the turbine to be installed within an existing decommissioned primary settlement tank on site.”
