Scottish Water is spinning off two combined heat and power (CHP) plants owned by its non-regulated subsidiary, Scottish Water Horizons. The CHP plants, at its Stirling and Dalmarnock waste water treatment works will in future be owned by new companies Noventa – Helix Heat & Power I Ltd and Noventa – Helix Heat & Power II. Power which is currently sold by Scottish Water Horizons Ltd to Scottish Water under an internal Group financial agreement, will be sold by private wire. Scottish Water will contract with Noventa for the remaining 17 years of the initial power purchase agreements in order to secure access to the onsite power generation up to 2040 (or 2049 including extension options).
Scottish Water is one of the largest energy users in Scotland. It plans to reduce consumption by 20% by 2030 and move to 100% renewable energy. In 2022/3 it produced 46GWh of heat and power from onsite generation and its Net Zero strategy is based on solar and hydro schemes. Seven solar and two hydro projects were delivered in 2022/23 and 20 are planned for 2023/24, including the company’s first waste water hydro scheme at Hamilton. Its largest solar scheme is at Balmore water treatment works in East Dunbartonshire.