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District Heating
SWEP & Vattenfall power 3,000 Edinburgh homes with green heating
A 3D simulation is useful in the design phase to test technical aspects of the substation .
A GBP30 million low-carbon heating network for the new Shawfair
Town near Edinburgh , Scotland is being developed by Midlothian Energy Limited . SWEP brazed plate heat exchangers ( BPHEs ) used in the substation solutions will transfer appr . 1,200 kW each using waste heat reducing 2,500 Tonnes CO2 per year .
Text & images by SWEP
The initial phase of the network will supply Shawfair Town ’ s homes , education and retail properties with heat from Millerhill Recycling and Energy Recovery Centre ( RERC ) – an energy from waste plant operated by FCC Environment . Millerhill RERC will incinerate tons of waste which cannot be recycled and would normally go to landfills to create hot water , which will then be transferred to Shawfair Town via the heat network . By using waste energy and potentially other renewable energy sources , the system reduces carbon emissions and contributes to the region ’ s sustainable development goals . The involvement of Vattenfall , who bring over 100 years of heat network expertise from mainland Europe , ensures high standards in developing low carbon infrastructure in Shawfair Town . The project , supported by SWEP ’ s advanced heat exchanger technology and distributed by SWEP ’ s local dealer HASL , is expected to contribute to energy security , affordability and resilience , with energy produced from mainly local sources , with less reliance on fossil fuels .
Multiple challenges The challenge was to create a solution that met the heating needs of Shawfair Town while each of the
five phases were being built . Each substation would be coming online at different phases of the project , with each having to compensate for the fluctuations in temperature and pressure . There was also a need to be able to expand the network to include the heating needs of an additional 600 homes being added to the surrounding region in the near future . The project is carried out by FES Group , a prominent facilities management and energy solutions company based in Stirling , Scotland , which has been appointed as principal contractor . FES has grown to become one of the UK ’ s leading providers of facilities management , building
The future proof substation solution uses SWEP B439Hx240 brazed plate heat exchangers .
34 Heat Exchanger World December 2024 www . heat-exchanger-world . com