Heat recovery is an art form at Tate Modern
Some 7000 MWh of heat is expected to be recovered each year from the refurbished Bankside electricity sub-station to supplement the heating and hot-water needs of a new building at Tate Modern in London. CO2 savings up to 1400 t a year are expected compared with conventional gas-fired boilers. The £60 million project was led by UK Power Networks, with other parties including Arup as partner and Wilson Transformer company.
The sub-station receives electricity at 132 kV and transforms it to 20 kV and 11 kV for distribution via underground cables. The project involves 600 t of transformers and 118 panels of new high-voltage switchgear.
Heat will be recovered by oil-to-water heat exchangers, and a maze of insulated pipes on the roof of the substation will transfer heat and hot water to Tate Modern.
Paul Dyer, UK Power Networks’ transformer specialist, explains, ‘In all the major cities in the world, there will be lots of opportunities to install heat recovery. It can only work where the sub-station is in close proximity to the building using the heat, and urban areas have the potential to work best.
‘Following this project, we have received enquiries from other customers who would like us to consider replicating this system for their building.’
UK Power Networks invested £800 000 from Ofgem’s innovation funding incentive in the necessary research, feasibility studies, design and infrastructure for the project, and Tate Modern invested a further £200 000. Information learnt during the project means these costs could be reduced in the future.
