Zenobe Energy & United Utilities partner for more resilient water operations

Zenobe Energy has announced its partnership with United Utilities to supply the water company with the largest battery in the UK water industry to-date.

The 2MW battery will connect to solar panels at Clifton Marsh wastewater treatment works in Preston, Lancashire, which serves 260,000 local homes and businesses. The site will be fully active by the end of May.

Zenobe will provide a complete solution that uses its own market intelligence models and proprietary software to manage the batteries. This will optimise any excess on-site solar, trade in a range of electricity markets to support National Grid, provide power resilience and reduce carbon emissions, with the aim of reducing costs for customers and save at least 6,700 tonnes of CO2 over the life of the 15-year contract.

Steve Slavin, head of renewable energy at United Utilities, said, “Having an electricity storage facility on-site is really useful. It means we can make the most of any available green energy. Not only is that good for the environment it’s good for our business too. Energy is one of a water company’s largest operational costs. By generating our own power, we can protect United Utilities from a volatile energy market, which will allow us predict our cost of treatment and stabilise bills for our customers.

“The batteries will also allow us to help the National Grid even out the peaks and troughs in power demand throughout the day. This is exactly the sort of innovation water companies need to be embracing if we are to meet the sector’s goal of zero net carbon emissions by 2030.”

James Basden, co-founder of Zenobe Energy, added, “We’re proud that our end-to-end energy storage service is bringing significant environmental and financial benefits to customers and local communities.

“At a time when every industry must be looking for innovative solutions – like ours – that can facilitate the UK’s transition to net-zero, it’s fantastic to see United Utilities leading the way. We expect all water companies to use this type of solution to meet their commitments to customers and the environment.”