Planning

An Energy Centre is a building which generates hot water, heating, electricity and in some cases cooling to homes and buildings in the Park. This is instead of having individual systems in each building which are less efficient.

The Energy Centre includes biomass boilers and a Combined Cooling, Heat and Power (CCHP) plant. These innovative technologies support the ODA’s sustainability commitments to using renewable energy technology and providing efficient energy systems in the Park.

Design

The design of the Energy Centre is sustainable and flexible to allow future technologies to be used within the Centre as they are developed. We will also be preserving the old - one of the existing mill buildings of historical interest at Kings Yard will be renovated and reused as part of the project.


Plans are being developed for a visitor centre within the Energy Centre to be opened after the Games, which could include educational and historical information.

Another Energy Centre is also being built in Stratford City which will provide power, heat and cooling for the Stratford City development. It will be built at the same time as the Energy Centre on Kings Yard but will be subject to a separate planning application.

Environmental benefits

The innovative methods used in the Energy Centre will have environmental and economic benefits. The biomass technologies will create energy which will reduce carbon emissions (the main greenhouse gas). During the Games the Centre will reduce carbon emissions by 20 per cent – 5,000 tonnes per year.

Gas and a sustainable biomass fuel (woodchip) will be used to generate power, heat and cooling. The woodchip will come from local sustainable sources. Importantly, the fuels will be used more efficiently compared to conventional gas and coal-fired energy plants, lowering the environmental impact of the Energy Centre.