
Scottish Water has broken ground on a new type of hydro energy generation scheme that is fed by a siphon, which the company believes is the first of its type in Europe.
Construction of this 199 kW project at Whiteadder Reservoir, East Lothian, is part of the company’s work to reduce carbon emissions. The scheme will enable the company to generate green energy while controlling the level of the reservoir during seasonal fluctuations in weather without the need for major civil engineering works.
The siphon technology will draw water up though the intake and over the top of the dam. It then runs down through the siphon and through the hydro turbine. The electricity generated will offset 30% of the power used by one of East Lothian’s largest pumping stations, named Hungry Snout. This pumping station takes around 32 million litres of water per day to Castle Moffat Water Treatment Works.
“This is a unique project to work on. Due to fluctuating seasonal conditions in Scotland, the flows at Whiteadder Reservoir vary from 150 to 1200 litres per second so it was important that we could measure and control the reservoir levels accurately as its primary function is to provide water to customers,” said Neil Beaumont, hydro energy senior project manager at Scottish Water Horizons, the utility’s commercial subsidiary that is delivering the scheme. “We selected equipment that could accurately measure water levels even during adverse weather conditions using smart controls and sensors. We are delighted to be leading with such innovative projects to lower the carbon footprint of the local water supply and make Scotland’s grid greener.”
This represents a £3 million (US$3.7 million) investment by Scottish Water. The investment will significantly reduce carbon emissions from the pumping station, saving about 111 tonnes of carbon each year, Scottish Water said. It is expected to generate 0.82GWh of renewable energy per annum.
The hydro scheme is being delivered by renewable energy specialist Emtec Energy.
Scottish Water has committed to meeting net zero total emissions by 2040 and net zero operational emissions by 2030.