Work will begin on Monday to turn Yorkshire Water’s sewage works at Esholt into the UK’s first energy-neutral treatment plant.

The Bradford-based water company is investing £30 million to install specialist equipment which will be used to create energy from waste and effluent.

The aim is to create enough energy to power the site, while treated sludge will also be used as fertiliser for horticultural purposes.

Ben Roche, manager of energy and carbon at Yorkshire Water, said: “Each year we receive an electricity bill for approximately £45 million with 70 per cent of our carbon footprint coming from electricity – a footprint that stands at 453,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

“As the environmental impact of energy usage has been more widely understood, coupled with the increasing cost of energy prices, we’ve been exploring ways to reduce energy consumption and reliance on grid electricity through renewable energy generation and other activities.

“We already generate a third of the energy we use on site at Esholt through renewable energy technologies, but our aim is for this huge facility to become fully-energy self-sufficient by 2015.

“The creation of the UK’s first BioThelys thermal hydrolysis plant will not only enable us to put our sludge to good use, but will also mean our site is completely energy-neutral, making it one of the greenest plants in the UK.

“In addition, we could save about £1.3m a year at this site, whichin turn will help us to keep customers’ bills as low as possible.”

The 750-acre sewage works is one of Yorkshire Water’s largest facilities, serving 700,000 people and receiving 300 litres of waste water a second, which is treated before discharging into the River Aire.

The new plant will take about 18 months to complete, and is expected to be commissioned in early 2013. Engineering specialists Morgan Sindall and Grontmij will carrying out the work, in what is one of the biggest contracts to be awarded by Yorkshire Water.