Developed by Far East Consortium (FEC), it is designed to support local decarbonisation of energy. The 25-year contract will deliver heating and cooling to the 80,000 m2 mixed-use development covering 636 apartments, together with a 231-bed hotel, school, pub, and smaller retail units. This will support the network that serves some of the tallest residential towers in the Canary Wharf district, including the 217-metre-tall Aspen with 65 storeys, and the neighbouring 125 metre high Alta, which has 34 storeys.
Veolia will manage the entire system and deliver energy supplies from the energy centre to each customer on a year-round basis. As space heating and hot water accounts for about 21% of total UK carbon emissions, the baseload for the low carbon energy comes from the latest water source heat pump technology with water cooled chillers providing the cooling load. To optimise efficiency, heat is recovered from the chillers’s condensers circuits, before the cooling towers, to feed the cold side of the heat pumps.
According to Veolia, this will guarantee delivery of 850kW of heating and 600kW of cooling to the network that will serve around 20,000 people including residents, hotel guests and other building users.
Veolia's specialists will be responsible for all plant and equipment in the energy centre, the district heating mains on the site, and the rising mains up to and including either the consumer interface units (heat meters), or the commercial heat exchangers. This operations and maintenance service will be responsible for compliance with all current legislative and regulatory requirements, and produce reports covering carbon emissions, building regulations and local planning.
John Abraham, chief operating officer - industrial, water and energy for Veolia UK & Ireland said: "This latest contract marks a further step forwards in the drive to make London a sustainable city and advance the decarbonisation of buildings. Providing the essential low carbon power to support new communities, and boosting energy efficiency, are key to establishing the sustainable cities of the future. By using the latest technology, and optimising energy management, we can not only power modern living but also make a real contribution towards meeting London’s environmental targets. As one of the biggest cities in the world it is important for London to set an example, and this shows what can be achieved.”