Introduction

Birmingham City Council is aiming for a 20% reduction in their CO2 emissions by 2010. To help them achieve this goal, they have installed their first Combined Heat and Power (CHP) scheme.

Objectives and target audience

The aim of this project is to install a CHP scheme, which will provide heat and energy for several Birmingham City Council buildings and will have a significant impact on helping the city to meet its CO2 emissions reduction target of 20% by 2010.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The CHP scheme costs €9 million (£6 million). The scheme has been drawn up by the Sustainability and Energy Management team of the City Council’s Urban Design service. Urban Design was awarded a grant to develop the scheme under the Government’s Community Energy programme.
Community Energy is a €75 million (£50 million) UK-wide capital programme for installing and refurbishing community heating. Schemes are mainly based on CHP with innovative approaches also encouraged.
Utilicom Ltd will run the ESCo, called Birmingham District Energy Company (BDEC), which will finance all capital works needed to develop the scheme. It will design and operate the CHP plant, supplying energy services to customers at discounted rates. Utilicom Ltd is a developer and provider of community and district energy schemes.

Process

CHP is a process where electricity is generated and the resulting heat, which is normally wasted, is used to provide heating, chilled water for air conditioning and hot water. In this case, the heat from the CHP will be incorporated into a district heating scheme.

Results

When phase 1 of the scheme is completed it is estimated that some 4000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be saved.
Financially, the building owners will be able to save some 5% per year on their energy supply costs, on a whole-life cost basis.
Future building developments or refurbishments will be able to positively consider connection to the system, which it is envisaged will enable unproblematic compliance with the legislation adjusted by the EU Energy Performance of Building’s Directive.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

The City Council acted as a co-ordinator and facilitator, successfully engaging with various public and private bodies to create the CHP scheme. The scheme, which has now become a reality, will encourage more progressive private sector operators by increasing confidence in the formation of ESCos.