GOING FOR ENERGY
EFFICIENT GOLD The organisers of the London Olympics were determined that 2012 would see the greenest Games ever. An example of this commitment to renewable and energy-efficient technology was a state-of-the-art Energy Centre constructed to provide power, heating and cooling across the whole Olympic Park for the entire duration of the Games – and beyond. Robert Williams reports.
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he Energy Centre became operational in October 2010 and began providing an early legacy of sustainable energy across the site, helping to reduce the carbon emissions of the Olympic Park well before the Games. It was much more efficient than having individual systems in each building and saved an enormous amount of energy that would normally have been lost in transporting it long distances from traditional power stations. The building provided power, heating and cooling systems across the Olympic Park for the Games, the venues and the Olympic Village and for the new buildings and communities that are being developed. A significant proportion of the 20 per cent renewable energy target was met by this facility which includes a biomass boiler that uses woodchip as fuel to generate heat, and a natural gas powered combined cooling, heat and power plant. The project is the largest energy centre scheme to be built so far in the UK and features a gas-fired Combined Cooling Heat & Power (CCHP) plant to capture the heat generated by electricity production. It also includes biomass-fired boilers that use sustainable biomass fuels, such as woodchip, to 14 Industry Europe
generate heat and deliver low-carbon energy. Together with a second energy centre, built in Stratford City, they served the heating, cooling and electricity requirements of the Games venues and other facilities. The Energy Centre was designed to be a community landmark in the tradition of London’s Battersea and Bankside power stations. Part of the Centre is housed in a renovated Edwardian sweets factory, which was the only original building retained from the Olympic Park site as it was prior to construction. The Kings Yard Edwardian building was renovated to visually integrate with the surrounding listed buildings. It reaches 45m from the ground at its highest point. The Centre has a flexible modular design, so that extra capacity and new technology can be added when demand increases once the area is further developed after the Games. Both the energy centres will serve the new metropolitan development in east London after the 2012 Games. About five new neighbourhoods are being planned for development in the future. The environmental and economic benefits include a huge reduction of carbon emissions – while the design of the Centre is
both flexible and sustainable to allow it to be adapted as technology progresses. The Kings Yard plant is equipped with two 20MW hot water boilers, three 3.5MW bio-boilers, two 7MW electric chillers and one 4MW absorption chiller. It has five cooling towers. Boilers in the Energy Centre use natural gas as feedstock. Base demand for heat during winter is met through the bioboilers that use sustainable biomass, such as woodchips and pulp, as feedstock. Now that the Games are a pleasant and fading memory, the Centre will continue to support the permanent Olympic venues as well as the new buildings and communities that will develop after 2012.
CHP efficiency gains Combined heat and power is energy efficient technology. It provides a means to substantially reduce fuel, or ‘primary energy’, consumption without compromising the quality and reliability of the energy supply to consumers. CHP integrates the production of usable heat and power (electricity), in one single, highly efficient process. It generates electricity whilst also capturing usable heat that is
