New wind turbine at Old Whittington waste water treatment works

Old Whittington’s waste water treatment works treats and processes sewage from 100,000 customers in Chesterfield. Around 40% of the energy used at Old Whittington is already produced from renewable sources so the power produced by the new £1.6 million wind turbine will reduce the site’s carbon footprint even further.

Since April this year a team from our sister company, Kelda Water Services, have been onsite carrying out preparatory works in readiness for the turbine delivery. The turbine was made in the Netherlands and came by ship to Southampton and transported via the motorway network to Chesterfield. It was constructed over two days and has a maximum height of 77m from the turbine base to tip of the blade.

Electricity production will begin at the end of August after the turbine has been commissioned and tested and will be able to generate the equivalent of approximately 20-45% of the site’s annual electricity needs. This is roughly equivalent to the average annual electricity demand of 350 homes. 

We use a huge amount of energy to provide safe drinking water and treat waste water for our 5 million customers. Most of this is bought from commercial energy providers and our electricity bill stands at £50 million per year. Increasing the amount of energy generated from renewable sources will reduce reliance on less clean fossil fuels but will also help to keep bills down for Yorkshire Water customers.

The population is growing fast, with an extra 855,000 people predicted to live in the region within the next 25 years. The climate is changing too, with predictions that the average temperature could rise by 3.6°C by the 2050s. These changes will stretch the region's natural water sources over the decades to come and our aspiration is to have 50% of the energy we use supplied from renewable sources by 2020.