Through an innovative initiative, NI Water is planning to replace pump sets at sixteen sites over the coming months. This pump optimisation work is forecast to reduce energy operating costs by c.£950k per annum. This corresponds to reducing energy consumption by 4.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity/annum which is equivalent to c.1,600 domestic properties over the course of a year.
Colin Murtagh, Energy Reduce Use Programme Manager at NI Water, said: “The water industry is very energy intensive requiring large amounts of power to treat and dispatch c.605 million litres of water per day to our customers in Northern Ireland. As the largest user of electricity in Northern Ireland, we’ve set ambitious targets to achieve net zero for the energy we use by 2030.
“Working with a specialist pump system consultant, utilising in-house expertise and analytical skills, we’ve reviewed and evaluated our key pumping assets for energy efficiency optimisation opportunities which will help lower energy consumption, reduce maintenance costs and improve reliability. We have identified key water pumping sites where energy efficiency can be optimised by reducing the kWh used to pump water to our customers.
“When upgrading pumping systems, we have maintained our agreed ‘best-in-class’ approach to performance, investment and installation. We have been rigorous in our front-end analysis, testing, design and specification, and are confident in the performance outcome from our investment. Where appropriate new pumps have been installed to match present day requirements but with consideration to maintain optimum performance if future demand changes.
“We’ve recently completed the first phase of the pump replacement and optimisation project at Ballygomartin Water Pumping Station where we’ve installed two new pumps. This has been very successful with c.30-35% like for like energy reduction at this site and it is also contributing to our sustainability goals without impacting service quality for our customers.”
Brian Conway, Consultant at Pumps and Systems Ltd, commented, “We are pleased to deliver this programme of pump and system optimisation work over the past 2 years, with good collaboration within NI Water and from their framework design and installation contractors. NI Water have made significant investment in this work programme and we are now seeing immediate benefits as the first pumping system upgrades come on line. It was agreed from the outset of this programme that we install ‘best-in-class’ assets to ensure resilience and long-term performance improvements, which has proved to be key to delivering good return on the investment.
“Commissioning audits on a number of completed projects have provided validation that we are delivering performance exactly as predicted and within original budget. We will reduce like-for-like energy consumption by an average 18% in this first phase of work.”
