Metropolitan is contracted under a 30-year agreement to design, build and operate the district energy infrastructure for the development. This encompasses a heat network and a gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) energy centre.
Development: St Andrews Park, Uxbridge
Customer: Vinci St. Modwen Estates
Sector: Residential, Commercial, Leisure and Retail
Utilities: Heat
A whole new community
VSM Estates Limited, a joint venture between Vinci and St. Modwen, selected Metropolitan for the project due to its combined design and build experience, along with its proven district-heating operational capabilities. Metropolitan is also able to offer Guru heat metering, which will improve efficiencies in the design and commissioning of the heat network.
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 a temporary energy centre will supply the initial 350 homes until the main energy centre is operational in 2021. This phased approach allows the solution to grow with the development.
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’s solution will provide a 30% saving on carbon emissions compared with the traditional solution of generating electricity separately and providing heat from individual boilers in homes.
“We are delighted to be working with Metropolitan on the St. Andrew’s Park development, as we are committed to improve the sustainability and efficiency of our projects. Metropolitan has a very strong track record in implementing district energy networks that deliver both carbon-emission savings and lower fuel bills for residents.”
Robert Draper, Development Director, Vinci St.Modwen Estates