The Centre will include biomass boilers that use woodchip as fuel to generate heat, and a natural gas-powered Combined Cooling, Heat and Power Plant (CCHP). During the Games the Centre will provide heating, cooling (for air conditioning) and power for the venues across the Park. After the Games it will contribute power to, and provide heating and cooling for, the local area.
The building is designed to be ‘mean, lean and green’. For example, it is ‘mean’ by using recycled materials and a derelict Victorian building to house key parts of the Energy Centre equipment. The Centre will be ‘lean’ by using heating and cooling networks designed to minimise losses. It will also be ‘green’ by using recycled wastewater for the Energy Centre cooling towers.
ODA Director of Infrastructure and Utilities Simon Wright said: ‘Sustainability is at the heart of the 2012 project and the Energy Centre will ensure a lasting legacy of green power in the Olympic Park for generations to come. The state-of-the-art Energy Centre will be one of the largest in the UK and the lean, mean and green sustainability features that underpin this project will set a model for future urban regeneration schemes.’
