Blog

It’s been quite a few months for the Queens Quay Energy Centre on Clydebank.  After winning the European Heat Pump City of the Year award, being shortlisted for the H&V Heat Pump Project, and holding an official opening, the project has been shortlisted in 3 categories of the Scottish Green Energy Awards 2021.

The project was one of over 100 entered into the awards this year and it has been shortlisted in the following categories:

• Sustainable Development Award
• Carbon Reduction Award
• Outstanding Project Award

Scott Lutton, Operations Director (North) for Vital Energi explains, “For over a hundred years Clydebank has been synonymous with Scottish engineering excellence and we are delighted that this continues into the 21st Century with the project being named as a finalist in three categories.

“This project is a fantastic showcase of how the UK can transform its energy infrastructure to achieve net zero and is a fantastic example to others, especially as the world’s leaders gather in Glasgow for COP26.  We are proud to have worked in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council, Star Renewables and a host of talented subcontractors and suppliers to deliver this important project.”

The Queens Quay Energy centre houses two 2.65MW water source heat pumps which takes water from the River Clyde, extracts the latent heat, and distributes heat throughout the 23-hectare site via a 5km underground district heating network.  When completed, the scheme will serve over 1,200 homes, businesses and organisations and, at full build out the project will deliver circa 5,705 tonnes of CO2 reduction per year due to grid decarbonisation.

The network was “futureproofed” to accommodate further growth and there is potential to expand beyond Queens Quay over a number of phases with future planned connections including Golden Jubilee Hospital, Clyde Shopping Centre and Dalmuir Flats.

Ian Spencer, Vital Energi’s Technical Director of Product Development explains, “This project is at the cutting edge of technology for several reasons and one of the most exciting is the installation of vTherm°e HIU and the Glass App which together collects and analyses data from the heat network to identify opportunities for improvement and deliver increased efficiencies.

“As the project grows in size, that increases the number of connections and continues to benefit from smart data collection and analysis, it will continue to further decarbonise and help West Dunbartonshire Council on their net zero journey.”

The Queens Quay project has already won the European Heat Pump Association’s Heat Pump City of the Year award and is currently shortlisted for the upcoming H&V Awards Heat Pump Project of the Year.

We’re delighted to welcome two new members to London and the South’s senior team, who together bring over 50 years’ industry experience.

Phil Vaulters has joined the Vital team as Operations Director, along with Lee Bennett, who is our new Operations Manager, strengthening our project delivery teams.

Passionate about engineering and with over 31 years industry experience working with some of the UK’s largest building services providers, Phil is skilled in building strong M&E teams to deliver multiple projects simultaneously with values ranging from £8m – £73m.

Here at Vital, Phil is responsible for project delivery for various M&E schemes, and is currently working on the Nine Elms Parkside and Barking Riverside projects, where his in-depth understanding of the challenges faced has enabled the development of comprehensive reporting methods to highlight and proactively provide solutions to overcome any issues early.

With 22 years in the industry and experience undertaking a wide variety of projects across multiple sectors for tier 1 main contractors, Lee brings a wealth of knowledge to his role as Operations Manager. He will deliver projects for clients on the RE:FIT framework, building the department to operate with an ever growing sector to form partnerships with companies and local governments, to help them on their path to net zero.

Lee is currently working on the City of London project, implementing ECMs across five of their key buildings, including the Guildhall and the Barbican, to help them achieve their ambitious target of net zero emissions by 2027. As well as implementing the control measures, a critical part of the works is the measuring and verification process which demonstrates that the carbon reductions are being achieved against the investment grade proposal.

Welcome to the Vital team!

Children from St Joseph’s RC Primary School and Gascoigne Primary School got the opportunity to visit the Barking District Heating Network to learn more about global warming and the work being done to combat it at a series of educational events organised by Vital Energi.

The children were visited by Ashley Walsh, Vital Energi’s Managing Director of Heat Networks, who gave a talk about global warming, low carbon energy and how we can reduce emissions before the classes visited a construction site to see the district heating installation process.

The Government has announced that the third round of PSDS funding will open for applications on 6^th October, which is fantastic news for public sector organisations looking to decarbonise, but you need to act quickly to secure the funding.

PSDS funding is delivered as a non-repayable grant and is a fantastic opportunity for public sector organisations who don’t have all of the required budget to self-fund the development and delivery of decarbonisation projects, but first they must successfully navigate the applications process.

The priority for PSDS round 3 is to provide funding to replace fossil fuelled heating systems at the end of their working lives, such as gas boilers, and replace them with low carbon heat sources combined with additional energy efficiency measures, to facilitate a ‘whole building’ approach to heat decarbonisation.

Once the total budget for round 3 is confirmed, the majority of the 2022/23 grant funding will be allocated to projects that need to be undertaken between 1st April 2022 and 31st March 2023, where the heating system has reached the end of its working life. A smaller proportion of the funding has been set aside to specifically support multi-year decarbonisation projects where heating systems that are expected to reach the end of their working lives in 2023/24 or 2024/25, but decarbonisation work must start in 2022/23.

With short timescales, predicted over subscription, and Salix Finance (who manage the funding) stating that projects will be assessed in the order in which they’re received, organisations could be forgiven for feeling that the clock is already ticking.  Early engagement from an energy specialist, such as Vital Energi, is recommended as it can bring the specialist skills and knowledge necessary to develop a viable suite of projects across a property portfolio.

If you’re interested in the range of support Vital Energi can provide both through the application process and in delivery of your decarbonisation projects, then please email [email protected] or contact us here.

The construction works are progressing well and on schedule at the Energetik Energy Centre in Enfield, where the project is being led by Chris Beckwith (Construction Director) and Philip Kyriacou (Senior Projects Manager).

Construction started back in March with groundworks, which consisted of a reduced level dig and installation of the piling mat. The building is located near to a water course and part of the design requirements are that it’s to be built to withstand a 1 in 100 year flood. The design of the elevated ground floor slab meant that our piling mat needed to be installed at a level 1m higher than the existing ground level. In order to do this, we laid over 1600m3 of hardcore, using around 110 wagons, all of which would be removed from site after the completion of the piles.

Before piling could commence, we engaged the services of UXO (bomb detection squad) who needed to map the area and scan for any unexploded world war 2 bombs. Thankfully none were found, although we did find an old pot!

We installed over 90 piles, the longest of which were 28m. To put that into context, that’s the same height as our Flue Tower, all below ground.

Finally, we poured the concrete slab, which was designed to take the weight of the Thermal Stores and 16-ton boilers, and ranges in thickness from 600mm to 900mm.

When we completed the concrete slab, which was our first milestone, Energetik arranged a site visit from the Deputy Mayor for the Department of Environment & Energy, Enfield Council’s Chief Executive, and other representatives of Enfield Council and the Greater London Authority.

Meridian Water Heat Network (MWHN) is the name of Energetik’s upcoming district heating network that will supply low carbon heat and hot water the 10,000 homes and businesses to be built at Meridian Water as part of the regeneration. The network will be supplied by the main energy centre, located nearby at the Edmonton Eco-Park. The centre will eventually supply all of Energetik’s heat networks by capturing up to 60MW of unused energy generated at the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) Energy Recovery facility next door.

The next phase of works is the superstructure, with the structural steel frame which will be followed by intumescent painting works of the structure and the installation of the envelope.

We are excited to be attending the three-day Chartered Institute of Housing’s (CIH) annual conference at Manchester Central from the 7th to 9th September 2021, where we’ll be meeting with social and private housing providers and their customers to talk about how our solutions can meet their metering, billing and energy challenges.

In addition to our exhibition space at the conference, Glenn Harrison will be discussing ‘Digitalisation of Heat – Understanding Customers & Networks’ in The Insight Theatre on Wednesday 8^th September at 9.30am.

Come and find us at stand number G12. If you’d like to book your ticket for the conference, you can visit the CIH website here. 

Alternatively, if you’d like to get in touch to discuss how we can help you, please contact us here.

Vital Energi have secured a new contract with developers Wates Residential to install the pre-insulated network on the Gascoigne West Phase 2 development, as well as the connection between Gascoigne East Energy Centre to Gascoigne West, known as The Shaftesburys.

The contract runs alongside the main Barking District Heating Network scheme that Vital Energi are undertaking for the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, where the Gascoigne Estate section will be one of the main connections, providing heat to a number of properties including social housing homes and private properties.

The Gascoigne Estate connection is expected to commence in September 2021, with completion scheduled for early 2022. The Shaftsburys installation will include excavations outside and inside Gascoigne Primary School, so Vital Energi will deliver this section during the summer holidays to minimise disruption to children, parents and staff alike.

The Gascoigne Estate regeneration is being delivered by Wates over two phases, with the first delivering 200 homes and the second delivering a further 386. Works will see the demolition of the existing estate which will be replaced with five apartment blocks and townhouses. All homes on the estate will receive low-carbon heat via the district heating network.

Vital Energi have received Multi Utility Recognition Status (MURS) which enables them to carry out a range of essential contestable works across the water, electricity and gas utilities.

Vital have been accredited as a company by the The Water Industry Registration Scheme (WIRS), The Gas Industry Registration Scheme (GIRS) and the National Electricity Registration Scheme (NERS).  After being recognised by these three schemes Vital Energi is now recognised as having Multi Utility status.

Vital Energi have considerable knowledge and experience in the delivery of complex infrastructure projects. Cost and time savings can be realised through early engagement of subject matter experts that bring about utility coordination.

More about our accreditations:

WIRS

The Water Industry Registration Scheme (WIRS) is for contractors who provide new connections to the existing water supply or sewerage system. These are referred to as Self Lay Providers (SLPs). A WIRS registered SLP can undertake Contestable Works in relation to the provision of new water connections, i.e. mains, services and associated works.

GIRS

The Gas Industry Registration Scheme (GIRS) is for contractors who provide work associated with the construction of new gas infrastructure. GIRS registered providers are able to undertake new gas connections, services alterations or disconnections, dependent on the scope of their accreditations.

Utility Infrastructure Providers (UIPs) can compete with Gas Distribution Networks to complete some gas connection activities.

NERS

The National Electricity Registration Scheme (NERS) is a UK-wide accreditation scheme which assesses the competence of Independent Connection Providers to deliver connections safely and to a high standard.

Building in our reputation for delivering low carbon sustainable infrastructure solutions we can reduce costs and risks associated with Multi Utility delivery through co-ordinated, design and delivery. To find out more about how we can help to meet your low carbon Multi Utility infrastructure needs please contact us using the link below.

If you’d like to know more about our capabilities, or you’d like to discuss your Multi Utility needs then please contact Medi Rampal at [email protected]

Vital Energi are celebrating further contract success after they are awarded the combined £7.3m Mechanical Infrastructure and Mechanical Fit Out package for Berkeley Homes’ West End Gate development.

Situated moments from the prestigious neighbourhoods of Marylebone and Little Venice, and just a one minute walk from the nearest tube (Edgware Road), West End Gate boasts a range of apartments situated around private landscaped gardens with a landmark 30-storey tower as its hub. Residents can enjoy first-class facilities, including a cinema room, private gym, swimming pool and spa.

Vital Energi are delighted to continue their fruitful relationship with Berkeley Homes after winning two separate Mechanical packages for West End Gate; one for blocks B and D, which comprise 108 apartments over 10 storeys, and the other for blocks E and F which contains 108 apartments set over 18 floors. The ground floors of each of the four blocks consist of retail space and entrance lobbies.

The work will see Vital provide the mechanical infrastructure and apartment fit out for the four residential blocks, which includes low temperature hot water and boosted cold water services to each apartment, Heat Interface Units (HIUs) and chilled water for each property along with ventilation systems. Vital will also carry out live safety elements of the project in smoke extract and sprinkler systems, as well as all the internal plumbing.

Chris Hayden, Project Director for Berkeley Homes, commented:

“It is great to be working with Vital Energi at West End Gate. They have really added value through their knowledge and expertise of mechanical systems, providing a fantastic service from early design stages through to installation and commissioning.”

West End Gate blocks B and D are due for completion in July 2021, followed by blocks E and F in April 2022.