Thames Water bid to become Britain's biggest solar power generator: Installing 103 solar powers systems

Thames Water (UK) is aiming to become Britain’s biggest on-site solar power producer and industrial user after signing a ground-breaking deal to install photovoltaic systems large enough to cover 15 football pitches at three key sites in London. The solar arrays are being fitted in otherwise unusable places at three operational sites in the capital: on the roof of the Beckton desalination plant in Newham, on the top of vast storm tanks built in the 1800s at Crossness sewage works in Bexley, and on redundant sand filters at Walton water treatment works in Sunbury.

When fully completed, the three sites will provide an annual output of more than 4,500 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity – enough to run around 970 average-size homes. After the installations are completed at the three sites, Thames Water plans to fit more photovoltaic systems at up to 100 of its smaller locations, delivering a further 0.5% of the firm’s annual energy requirement.

Source: Thames Water