With this project, Thames Water aims to produce a third of its own energy by the year 2020.
The power generated from the project will be utilized by nearby water treatment plant.
By using renewable energy, Thames Water aims to cut down its electricity bills.
The aim is to produce an estimated amount of 6.3MW of peak energy with 5.8MW of energy to be produced in the first year.
According to Thames Water, the floating array of solar panels will cover about one-tenth of reservoir space – a space enough to fill 8 Wembley football pitches.
Thames Water’s energy manager, Angus Berry said: "Becoming a more sustainable business is integral to our long term strategy and this innovative new project brings us one step closer to achieving our goal – this is the right thing for our customers, the right thing for our stakeholders and most importantly the right thing for the environment."
Lightsource, one of the project-partners will deploy more than 61,000 floats and 177 anchors which will offer a platform for the panels to float.
Lightsource CEO Nick Boyle said: "We’re delighted to have begun work on another ambitious milestone project for Lightsource with our first floating solar installation.
"Over the last five years we’ve successfully completed ground and roof installations of all shapes and sizes, but this project has some obvious differences and has presented our team with a set of fresh challenges to overcome.
"There is a great need from energy intensive industries to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as the amount they are spending on electricity and solar can be the perfect solution.
"We’re therefore constantly evolving new skill sets to ensure that all of our projects deliver maximum energy generation over the lifetime of the installation."
Image: Illustration of Solar PV Project on River Thames. Photo: Courtesy of Thames Water Utilities Limited.
