Energy centre with CHP completed for new 150ha Cambridge district
G&H Fabrication has completed the manufacture of an energy centre and Combined Heat and Power system for the University of Cambridge’s new 150-hectare district.
The North West Cambridge Development is the largest capital project in the university’s history and when fully completed in 2017, it will provide a mixed academic and urban community that will extend the city.
The scheme will see:
- 100,000 m2 of academic and research space;
- 1,500 homes for university and college staff;
- 1,500 private houses for sale;
- Accommodation for 2,000 postgraduates;
- A primary school, health centre, hotel, care home, sports centre, supermarket and local shops.
In order to power this vast community project, G&H Fabrication manufactured pipework to connect eight 1MW boilers to the new distribution pipework.
The associated pipework to connect the 1MW CHP system was prefabricated offsite and in total, over 80% of our installation was pre-fabricated.
A 12” DN300 low temperature hot water mains to serve the district scheme and three, nine-metre-high thermal stores were among the pieces made and transported to site.
G&H Fabrication Manager, James Sherburn, said: “This was a large-scale project that benefited enormously from the offsite fabrication of major components created and managed by our experienced workforce.
“The impact on the North West Cambridge Development’s construction team was significant.
“This included reduced labour, build and parts costs, greater build control, pre-installation testing and crucially, it halved the overall time taken compared to traditional onsite methods being used resulting in a defect-free project.”
