NEWS
New power plant sought for Wales
Growing momentum behind district energy in London
Green development, have encouraged the implementation of district energy networks, which deliver significant energy efficiencies over traditional heating solutions, reports UKPN. In the latest example of the growing adoption of this technology, Metropolitan has been awarded the contract to design, build and operate the district energy network for St. Andrew’s Park, the new community being built near Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The new community, located on the site of the former
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RAF Uxbridge base, consists of more than 656 homes and 30,000m2 of commercial space including a hotel, a care home, a theatre and offices. The contract, awarded by St. Modwen Properties and Vinci PLC, is to supply low-carbon heat to all the buildings on the site. Greater London Authority (GLA) building regulations stipulate that the target for both domestic and non- domestic developments in London is for a 35% carbon- emission reduction beyond standard building regulations. This ambition has led to the requirement that developers should prioritise connection to existing or planned district energy networks where feasible, and the Mayor’s expectation is that localised decentralised systems, or district energy networks, will generate 25% of the heat and power used in London by 2025. For St. Andrew’s Park, Metropolitan, assisted by Vital Energi, will build, own and operate a heat network and a gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) energy centre. Metropolitan’s solution will provide a 30% saving on carbon emissions compared with the more traditional solution of generating electricity separately and providing heat from individual boilers in homes. This delivery of low-carbon heat will contribute to the Development meeting the zerocarbon requirement set out in the London Plan. District energy is a very flexible heat solution, enabling networks to be extended and heat sources to be changed as and when required. At St. Andrew’s Park, for example, a temporary energy centre will supply the initial 350 homes until the main energy centre is completed in 2021. Residents and commercial customers at St. Andrew’s
Park will directly benefit from efficient heat generation. Typically, district energy networks result in lower fuel bills for customers, and Metropolitan has guaranteed that at St. Andrew’s Park heat costs will never exceed those incurred by a traditional gas-boiler solution. Furthermore, the installation of heat interface units with
smart in-house displays as part of the network will allow customers to keep track of exactly how much heat they are using, and will enable Metropolitan to monitor the efficiency of heat delivery ensuring that customers are billed on actual real-time readings rather than estimated. Metropolitan has extensive experience in designing and operating such networks, for example, at the prestigious King’s Cross development in London, also supported by Vital Energi.
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he zero-carbon development requirements in the London Plan, which promotes Lean, Clean and
A planned gas-fired power station in Wales could gen- erate power for around 150,000 domestic homes. That’s according to the site’s potential developer, Abergelli Power, which is owned by energy giant Drax Power. The firm hopes to build the
rapid response open cycle gas turbine power station at a farm near Swansea. It says the £100 million project would generate 299MW of power and create 150 new jobs during its two-year construc- tion period, plus 15 perma- nent roles once operational.
The facility would be used to provide back-up power to the grid during periods of peak demand, which will increas- ingly rely on intermittent renewable energy sources. CEO of Drax Power, Andy Koss, said: “We are looking forward to sharing our latest plans at the public exhibitions next month and hearing what local people think about them before we finalise the scheme and submit a Development Consent Order application.” This application is needed because the power plant is above 50MW, making it deemed nationally important – it will have to be approved by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Low carbon & smart technology laboratory for Keele University
K
eele University is to become a living laboratory for emerging low carbon and smart energy technologies in what is thought to be the largest scheme of its type in Europe
and North America. Siemens has been chosen to deliver the Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND) which will turn the university’s private utilities network into a national test bed for new smart energy technologies and services in partnership with business and industry. As well as the installation of at least 5MW of renewables, with the university targeting solar
and wind power initially with an upcoming tender, the project at the West Midlands-based university campus will see the digitalisation of 24 substations, the installation of over 1,500 smart meters and 500 home controllers, and anywhere between 5-10MW of energy storage. The project is made possible by the university’s origins following the second world war when
the founders of the institution bought the original property from the US military, who had used it as an army base during the conflict. Situated on a green field site, all of the utility networks had to be installed and while connected to the public network, the university has owned and operated its own independent network for over 60 years. Head of partnerships and engagement at Keele University, Ian Madley, comments: “We have housing, student accommodation, the university and a science park; an environment which looks a little bit like a small town. There's about 5,000 people that live on the site including student accommodation, and about 12,000 that work on the site. With all of that being within a private wire network, we're effectively able to create something where you can come along with a new technology, plug and play into our system and know that you're working with a real living environment. He concludes: “Siemens are going to take the system that we've been running for 60 years
and turn that into a system that not just delivers energy but is also a laboratory, configuring all of those systems to be able to accept technologies.” The team behind the project has spent 10 years assembling £15 million in funding for the project, with around £5 million coming from the UK government, £9 million from the European Union’s Regional Development Fund, and £1 million of investment from the university itself. Cash won from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is has
been based on a number of deliverable factors including a commitment to reduce carbon use on site by 30% by 2021 and that directive that the project will offer a truly national test centre to benefit the entire UK energy supply chain.
JANUARY ‐ FEBRUARY 2018 UK POWER NEWS
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