Blog
Since AMP8 officially came into effect on the 1st of April 2025, the UK water sector has entered a new phase of scrutiny, innovation, and transformation.
The eighth Asset Management Period (AMP8), introduced by the Water Services Regulation Authority (OFWAT) and running from April 2025 to March 2030, is reshaping priorities across the UK water industry and its decision-making. With regulatory targets focused on efficiency, resilience, and sustainability, AMP8’s early impact reveals a sector under pressure to lead meaningful change across operational performance, environmental protection, and customer outcomes.
With AMP8’s core goals centred on social value, affordability, and the environment, key obstacles have come into focus:
Increased scrutiny around pollution events and sewer overflows demands more reliable operationality and monitoring systems.
Deliverability is challenged by limited resources and supply chain complexity.
Long-term affordability is a growing concern. Forecasts show water bills could rise by 20-40% by 2030, with an average yearly increase of £123 already underway from April 2025.
While nationalisation has been ruled out by the government due to its estimated £100 billion cost, it is instead seeking private investment to fund urgent upgrades in sewerage systems and reservoir capacity.
In February, public consultations were underway to gather ideas from communities, environmental groups, and investors on how to restructure the sector and drive change during AMP8.
Since introducing AMP8, we have seen significant announcements in infrastructure investment. Two major reservoir projects in East Anglia and South Lincolnshire have been accelerated by adopting central government decision-making. The aim is to fast-track solutions to secure the UK’s future water supply. However, these projects won’t be operational until 2036 and 2040, raising concerns about short-term interim solutions and resilience-building.
At the same time, water companies are receiving significant fines for sewage spills, further damaging public trust. While this reflects a stronger enforcement of accountability through financial penalties, it also raises concerns that the resulting costs could ultimately be passed on to consumers, placing additional pressure on affordability during the AMP8 period.
While not every challenge will be easily resolved, an effective power strategy can play a vital role in helping the water industry work towards AMP8 goals. Our Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Systems are engineered for long-term performance, harsh environments, and intelligent asset management.
Built for the water sector’s toughest environments, our WIMES UPS range offers high ingress protection (up to IP55), ideal for sites exposed to moisture, dust, and temperature extremes, enabling greater system resilience.
Our partnership with Ablerex brings Regenerative Load Management (GLM) capability to our UPS systems, enabling smarter energy use and reduced wastage. These systems support advanced monitoring, predictive maintenance, and improved load control, boosting operational efficiency and sustainability.
From 1kVA Single Phase up to 800kVA Modular UPS, our scalable solutions are tailored to meet the varying demands of water treatment facilities, pumping stations, and remote telemetry sites, providing reliable uptime and ease of integration with existing infrastructure.
With a 10-year design life, our battery systems reduce the frequency of replacements and maintenance interventions. This cuts whole-life costs and supports long-term asset planning, both of which are key concerns under AMP8’s affordability and efficiency mandates.
AMP8 and the Future of Power Resilience
As the water industry pushes through one of its most demanding regulatory cycles yet, critical power infrastructure is not just supporting compliance but enabling transformation. Predictive maintenance, load optimisation, and system resilience are all underpinned by the reliability of power solutions that match AMP8’s ambition.
