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Marine source heat pump wins an award |
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3 Oct 2014, 6:54 PM
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Plas Newydd, a National Trust property on Anglesey has won an energy efficiency award after unveiling the largest ever marine source heat pump earlier this year.
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The 300kW pump at Plas Newydd utilises the tidal currents of the Menai Strait to provide all the power needed to heat the Welsh mansion. Built in the 18th Century, the property was formerly the National Trust’s biggest oil consumer – using up to 138,000 litres of oil annually at a cost of around £70,000.
In May, the Trust unveiled the ground-breaking project, the first of five schemes to be completed in a £3.5million pilot phase of its Renewable Energy Investment Programme.
It has now been named Commercial Project of the Year in the Energy Efficiency and Renewables Awards at London’s Kensington Roof Gardens. The Plas Newydd marine source heat pump pumps a small amount of sea water from the Menai Strait through a network of pipes to and from a heat exchanger on the shore, and then up 30 metres of cliff face to the mansion’s boiler house.
The marine source heat pump was manufactured by renewable energy manufacturer Stiebel Eltron UK. Mark McManus, Managing Director, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Plas Newydd has been recognised for the commissioning of this ground-breaking project. The installation of the pump is transforming energy usage at Plas Newydd, dramatically improving its CO2 performance and saving tens of thousands of pounds a year that were previously being spent on oil.
“It has been a hugely rewarding project for everyone concerned and the biggest project Stiebel Eltron has been involved with in the UK.”
Richard Kimpton, Managing Director of Kimpton Energy Services, the company which carried out the installation said: “Plas Newydd was a complex and challenging project which involved us working around the tides in order to move equipment and carry out the installation. The design phase of the project was incredibly demanding and had to ensure that our calculations met the criteria of the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which stipulates specific performance requirements.”
“The Plas Newydd installation was an extremely innovative project involving a team of more than 40 people and it is fantastic that it has now been recognised in these important national awards.”
The installation of the marine source heat pump at Plas Newydd forms part of the National Trust’s Grow Your Own Energy programme which includes targets of reducing energy usage by 20 per cent and meeting half of its energy requirements through renewable energy.
The project saw a number of firsts – the first marine source heat pump of its type in the UK, the biggest at 300kW and the first in open sea rather than a harbour. Adam Ellis-Jones, Assistant Director for Operations in Wales for the National Trust, said: “With the Irish Sea right on the doorstep of Plas Newydd, a marine source heat pump was the best option for us. However, being a pioneer is never easy. There are very few marine source heat pumps and nothing of this size in the UK, so it has been a challenging project but a very exciting one.”
Other key partners in the project have included SEACAMS, led by the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University, and 100 per cent renewable electricity supplier Good Energy which launched the Renewable Energy Investment Programme with the National Trust last year.
Set on the shores of the Menai Strait, Plas Newydd is a Grade 1 listed Mansion redesigned by James Wyatt in the 18th Century. The house and the Repton designed gardens have uninterrupted views across to Snowdonia. Plas Newydd has always been a place of innovation, with the house overlooking two feats of British engineering, the Menai and Britannia bridges, and housing the first prosthetic ‘Anglesey Leg’.
The estate is also powered by clean electricity thanks to a 50kW solar array, which has encouraged more than 150,000 orchids to flourish, and a 40% plus reduction in overall energy use has been delivered so far through improved heating management.
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