# NI Water switches on £2.3m of hydro turbines at three sites > Turbines at Ballygomartin, Breda and Purdysburn will generate about 900 MWh a year from water already moving through the network. Surplus power is exported to the grid. Published 5 November 2026 by The Water Wire. Topic: Investment & infrastructure. Canonical: https://waterwire.co.uk/story/ni-water-hydro-turbines NI Water has completed a £2.3m investment in hydro turbines at Ballygomartin Water Pumping Station, Breda Service Reservoir and Purdysburn Service Reservoir. The project was supported by the Department for the Economy's Invest to Save funding within the 2021-27 price control period ([4NI](https://www.4ni.co.uk/northern-ireland-news/335444/ni-water-completes-major-2-3m-hydro-turbines-project)). It is part of NI Water's Energy Reduce Use Programme. > **900 MWh** — expected annual generation across the three sites ([source](https://www.4ni.co.uk/northern-ireland-news/335444/ni-water-completes-major-2-3m-hydro-turbines-project)) ## What we know - **Output:** around 900 MWh a year across the three sites. NI Water likens this to the annual electricity use of about 360 homes, using Ofgem's 2,500 kWh benchmark. - **Ballygomartin:** a 63kW turbine is expected to power the pumping system itself and export the surplus. The station pumps about 3.5 million litres a day to Whiterock Upper Service Reservoir, serving roughly 4,700 domestic and 600 non-domestic customers ([WaterBriefing](https://www.waterbriefing.org/home/contracts/item/26178-ni-water-invests-%C2%A323-million-in-three-hydro-turbines-atr-three-separate-sites)). No ratings were given for Breda or Purdysburn. - **Grid:** the turbines become the sites' main energy source, with surplus electricity exported to the grid. - **Delivery team:** BSG was main contractor, Hydroplan design lead, and McAdam Design provided design support. Damien O'Mullan, NI Water's director of transformation and innovation, said the installations will "help offset grid electricity use, and reduce costs and carbon emissions". Katrina Duddy, head of energy management at the Department for the Economy, said the turbines capture energy "from water already moving through NI Water's infrastructure". ## What others are reporting The project was first announced in early October. [4NI](https://www.4ni.co.uk/northern-ireland-news/335444/ni-water-completes-major-2-3m-hydro-turbines-project) and [WaterBriefing](https://www.waterbriefing.org/home/contracts/item/26178-ni-water-invests-%C2%A323-million-in-three-hydro-turbines-atr-three-separate-sites) carried the site-level detail on Ballygomartin and the delivery team. ## Background In written evidence to the Assembly's Economy Committee in July, NI Water said it is Northern Ireland's single largest electricity consumer. It accounts for over 3% of total demand and about 10% of the industrial sector ([NI Assembly](https://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/committees/2022-2027/economy/bills/utility-regulator-bill/20260701-ni-water_redacted.pdf)). The submission backed the bill and stressed the role of major consumers in demand reduction and on-site generation. On-site renewables are not new for the company. Its 4.99MW solar farm at Dunore, opened in 2018 at a cost of £7m, was expected to supply 7% of its annual electricity use. At that point the company set a target of raising renewables from 13% to 40% of consumption by 2021 ([NI Water](https://niwater.com/news-detail/11453/NI-Water-Leads-the-Way-in-Renewable-Energy)). ## What we don't know yet NI Water has not published the expected payback period, or the share of the £2.3m covered by Invest to Save. Nor has it said what proportion of its total consumption it now meets from its own renewable generation. ## What to watch - Whether more turbine sites follow under the Energy Reduce Use Programme in the next price control. - Progress of the Utility Regulator decarbonisation bill, and any funding route it creates for utility on-site generation. At about 900 MWh a year, this is a small project for a company of NI Water's energy footprint. Its significance is as a template rather than a step change. Hydro recovery at service reservoirs and pumping stations uses head that already exists in the network, so there is little operational risk, and the economics depend mostly on site flows and grid export terms. The bigger question for NI Water is funding. This project drew on a departmental Invest to Save scheme. In July, the company told the Assembly that the Utility Regulator should have authority to make decarbonisation determinations "that support funding". That suggests it wants a more systematic route than one-off pots. Any operator in Britain with gravity-fed trunk mains or pressure-break points can read across, although the value of export power will vary by market. ## Sources - [Water Magazine — £2.3m hydro investment powers greener future for NI Water](https://www.watermagazine.co.uk/2026/11/05/2-3m-hydro-investment-powers-greener-future-for-ni-water/) - [WaterBriefing — NI Water invests £2.3 million in three hydro turbines](https://www.waterbriefing.org/home/contracts/item/26178-ni-water-invests-%C2%A323-million-in-three-hydro-turbines-atr-three-separate-sites) - [4NI — NI Water completes major £2.3m hydro turbines project](https://www.4ni.co.uk/northern-ireland-news/335444/ni-water-completes-major-2-3m-hydro-turbines-project) - [NI Assembly — NI Water written evidence on the Utility Regulator (Support for Decarbonisation Preparation) Bill, 1 July 2026 (PDF)](https://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/committees/2022-2027/economy/bills/utility-regulator-bill/20260701-ni-water_redacted.pdf) - [NI Water — NI Water leads the way in renewable energy (May 2018)](https://niwater.com/news-detail/11453/NI-Water-Leads-the-Way-in-Renewable-Energy)