St James

St James Grosvenor Waterside

Executive Summary

Vital Energi overcame challenging space restrictions to successfully install a Biomass and CHP Energy Centre at Grosvenor Waterside in the heart of Central London.

  • financial-savings
    £3m contract value
  • time
    4 years

Project Overview

Grosvenor Waterside, a St James Homes mixed use development in the heart of central London has created a new quarter for Chelsea, comprising 620 contemporary residential units, with a gym,  spa, juice bar and business centre, concierge and security services and underground parking.

With 25% of the apartments providing affordable housing, the development plays a key role in the regeneration of this important area of London.  Built around a historic dock the development includes six individual, yet harmonious buildings; the result of collaboration between leading architects, artists and designers.

Our Solution

The original concept for the energy provision to the residents on this prestigious development was standard electric heating; however as the scope of the development grew to include additional homes, so did the requirement for more stringent energy efficiency targets and Vital Energi was brought in to revise the plans from scratch. Presented with the client’s own design, Vital Energi worked in conjunction with the clients architectural and structural design team, proposing amends where necessary to produce an energy efficient design and construction solution as part of this £3 million project to serve the apartments of the Grosvenor Waterside with heating and hot water on demand. A significant and unique feature of Vital Energi’s innovative design on this project is that it incorporates an unusual combination of energy efficient technologies involving biomass, CHP as well as gas.

Responsible for all elements relating to the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a new energy centre including the above and below ground heat distribution network, Vital Energi’s solution incorporates CHP plant providing on-site generation and distribution of electricity for sales back to the grid, a wood chip fuelled biomass system to provide renewable energy to a level of 10% of the energy demand across the project, together with fuels storage and fuel handling system.  The installation also includes gas boilers, thermal store and associated equipment, as well as all pipework distribution and heat interface units, providing increased control over when and how much hot water can be used.

Solution detail

I would like to thank all those within Vital for the hard work and professional attitude you have shown. I must congratulate you on what I believe is a high quality finish to both affordable and private residents and may it continue into Block B. I look forward to working with you on the next phase.

Leigh Hutchings, M&E Manager, St James Urban Living

Key Benefits

  • Overcame significant space restrictions
  • Effective combination of gas, biomass and CHP Technologies.
  • Utilising renewable energy to a level of 10% of the required development demand
  • Use of energy efficient technologies result in lower CO2 emissions
  • Robust and reliable hot water and heating on demand
  • Plant selection affording increased design life and flexibility to meet future demands.
  • Vital Energi’s solution reduces heat losses through the system by approximately 25-30% due to our extensive industry knowledge and ability to select alternative pipework materials, insulation and routes.