Water company Severn Trent is inviting companies to come forward with innovation to help to reduce its energy costs – the company’s second-biggest expense.
The company spends around £100 million per year to meet its annual electricity need of 900GWh. t is on-track to be 50% self-sufficient from its own renewable energy sources by 2020, including anaerobic digestion, solar, crop digestion, hydro, wind and food waste, but believes “more can be done”. It wants to harness new flexible energy solutions to drive down bills for customers.
Severn Trent is also aiming to get feedback on its procurement strategy, so that it can ensure it remains relevant and appropriate for the energy market.
The company has, however, set out the innovation areas where it wants proposals, which are:
- Opportunities to use hydrogen and bio-methane, including vehicles and power generation
- Alternatives to traditional diesel standby power resilience
- Energy flexibility and control solutions
- Innovative use of waste heat
- Low-head in-pipe hydro generation
- Solutions for storage and balancing of surplus on-site generation.
It also said that: solutions should be deliverable now with no further development required; and they can be across the full suite asset base from large urban sites to small rural applications.
The company wants responses by 31 August.