Adopting and operating the heat network serving the Hallsville Quarter development, part of the transformational new town centre for Canning Town in London.
Metropolitan has been contracted to adopt and operate, for 25 years, the district heat network serving three phases of the Hallsville Quarter development. The company has taken over the existing heat network and energy centre serving the first two phases of the development and is working with the developer, Linkcity, on the designs for future phases.
Existing heat customers when Metropolitan adopted the scheme in 2018
Estimated carbon savings over traditional solution
CHP engine to be installed by Metropolitan to replace smaller unit, leading to greater efficiencies
Transforming a town centre
Hallsville Quarter is part of the £3.7billion Canning Town and Custom House Regeneration Programme being undertaken by the London Borough of Newham. The new £600million town centre being created is expected to act as a catalyst to transform the surrounding area of east London.
The scheme will provide:
- 1,100 homes
- Over 23,000m2 of leisure and retail space
- Community facilities
- New pedestrian links, cyclist provision and 1,100 secure parking spaces
The whole scheme is scheduled to be completed by 2024.
Adopting the existing network
As a first step, Metropolitan has ‘adopted’ the existing heat network and energy centre which serves the first two phases of the development. The adoption of district heat networks is a common practice where the original developer decides to bring in external expertise to deliver the most efficient running of the network over the long-term.
Value engineering delivers
Metropolitan’s input at Hallsville Quarter demonstrates how expert engineering and creative design can achieve significantly enhanced performance for existing heat networks. For the third phase of the development, specifying the optimum pipe sizes for the network and reducing costs with leading-edge design will result in lower carbon emissions, operational efficiencies and ultimately reduce customers’ tariffs.
Upgrading the energy centre
This project demonstrates the flexibility of district heat as a solution: networks can be adopted, extended, and reconfigured, and heat sources changed, as and when required. Metropolitan is now working with Linkcity on the designs for future phases, including the replacement of the small CHP engine now in service, with a much larger and more carbon-efficient 1.2MW CHP engine.
In addition, the upgraded energy centre will help Hallsville Quarter meet the zero-carbon development requirements in the London Plan, which promotes Lean, Clean and Green development. 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. At Hallsville Quarter, Metropolitan’s redesigned network will exceed that ambitious target.
Long-term commitment
Metropolitan will be involved in operating the heat network at Hallsville Quarter for the next 25 years at least. It will therefore continue to have an interest in the success of the development, managing the customers’ needs, and operating the heat network as efficiently as possible long after the construction phases have been completed.
“Reaching contract signature within a few months of selecting the preferred bidder, following a comprehensive procurement process, demonstrates the strength of the working relationships on both sides and bodes well for the collaboration required for the design, delivery and operation of current and future phases at Hallsville Quarter, to the satisfaction of all its stakeholders”.
Axel Boutrolle of LinkCity