Downing has been chosen by Southern Water to deliver 12 solar projects across its sites in England.
The solar plants will supply renewable energy to power Southern Water’s water treatment facilities under long-term offtake agreements.
The renewable energy and infrastructure arm of Downing’s Estate Planning Service will invest £12m over a two-year period to deliver the solar projects which will generate a total of 8.4GWh each year to run treatment plants.
Downing Renewable Developments, Downing’s in-house project development team, will manage the development and construction of the sites.
Tom Williams, Partner and Head of Energy & Infrastructure at Downing LLP, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as the preferred partner to deliver these solar sites for Southern Water, the third such initiative of this type that we are undertaking with water utilities in the UK.
“It’s great to see a proactive commitment by energy-intensive industries such as water treatment and distribution to reduce their carbon footprint.
“As an accredited B Corporation, we are proud to be involved in this initiative – another example of Downing underlining its commitment to sustainable investing.”
Stuart Ledger, Chief Financial Officer at Southern Water, added: “This is a key step for Southern Water as we continue to progress our environmental and turnaround plans.
“This additional investment we are making in solar across 12 locations will provide onsite green energy to run our treatment plants for our customers in a way that is more sustainable, cost-effective and with improved resilience.
“We are really pleased to be working with Downing on these projects who have a proven track record in this area.”