In 2015, the London Borough of Waltham Forest, the Greater London Authority and Taylor Wimpey, approached E.ON for help to work on a plan to create a district heating network. This would connect multiple new housing developments within the Blackhorse Lane station sites cluster, in Waltham Forest, East London and have built-in capacity for further expansion.
- Over 1,600 residents supplied with heat and hot water
- 46% reduction in energy consumption
942 tonnes of CO₂ saved per year
E.ON’s innovative designs to commit and expand heat networks and decarbonise communities has been recognised by the Association of Decentralised Energy ADE in which E.ON were awarded the ‘Heat and Efficiency: Operational Project’ award at the 2021 ADE.
Proactive, successful collaborations
Blackhorse Lane is an excellent example of what can be achieved when collaboration is fostered across multiple stakeholders and shows our passion for continuous improvement and development of low carbon schemes. The project was cited by the Greater London Authority (GLA) as an exemplar project demonstrating the ambition of the London Plan by connecting multiple developments to one district heating network.
Due to the sheer scale of stakeholder engagement collaboration across all parties was paramount, to ensure the aims of the GLA and the London Borough of Waltham Forest were addressed, and to balance all economic, legislative, regulatory, and environmental considerations. We used a proactive approach with the formation of the Council led Landowners Hub and regular workshops for ongoing dialogue to provide key insights into the process, lessons learned and the sharing of knowledge to ensure at all stages of the development program that communication was clear, and challenges and risks were mitigated accordingly. With the pooling of resources and expertise, and the pursuit of continuous improvement across all parties we have been able to help deliver cleaner and more sustainable places to live.
What did we do?
Provided a full design and build service, connecting heat and hot water to 476 homes, and 650m2 of small commercial units at Blackhorse Lane.
What we’ve done since
Expanded networks to three more developments, and through low carbon technologies installed, saved the customer around 46% in energy use.
The solution
In the first stage, we provided a full design and build service for Taylor Wimpey, for the energy centre and entire heat network. In 2016, the energy centre and all the heat interface units were connected and installed to provide heat and hot water to the 476 residential properties and 650m2 of small commercial units at Blackhorse Lane. E.ON entered into a 40-year energy service company contract under which we now supply and manage the delivery of decentralised energy to these properties.
Since then, we have been able to expand the existing heat network to connect a further three developments, Blackhorse Mills (Legal and General) – a new build project of 479 apartments and a leisure centre, Equipment Works (Telford Homes), which consists of 342 residential units and Blackhorse Point (Barratt) which comprises a further 350 homes.
Building for the future
As a leader in the field of public lighting and grid connection, we offer a comprehensive service from design, through to installation, to maintenance and aftercare. We provide a competitive and efficient alternative to using your local Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for housing connections.
- Complete solutions for housing developers, local authorities, and private owners
- Authorised to carry out network connections and disconnections
- Experience in providing end-to-end solutions
- Work on developments to provide Low Voltage (LV) cable networks to domestic and commercial properties
- Fully accredited Independent Connection Provider (ICP) and can work on any network in the UK
How our Grid Connections team helped D Brown Contractors Ltd
Browns were building new social housing for North Kesteven District Council. Our Grid Connection team handled their network needs across four different sites – from designing the network, to calculating the load capacities for future installation of EV chargers, street lighting requirements and meter installation to each property.
Browns needed a reliable energy connection partner while constructing new social housing for North Kesteven District Council.
Our Grid Connection team were able to meet their bespoke needs across four different sites and handle every aspect of the project, from designing the network, to carrying out the works.
The initial phase involved us safely connecting four new properties to an existing mains line that ran beneath a newly formed car park. After completing this part of the project, we led on the groundworks to install a brand-new mains cable beneath a road and connect an additional three new properties.
We carried out this same work at a different site, laying new cabling beneath the roadway and connecting two new properties to the grid.
For each of the connections, we calculated the necessary load capacities required for future installation of EV chargers, ensuring Browns were set up to meet the changing landscape of building regulations around provision of electric vehicle charge points.
Our Lighting and Grid completed both the contestable and non-contestable elements of the works under our NERS (National Electricity Registration Scheme) accreditation.
We even took care of their street lighting requirements across both sites, and our New Connections team installed meters within each property.
Find out more about how we can help with grid connections at E.ON New Connections: https://www.eonnext.com/business/electricity-and-gas
