Phase one of Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5 (T5) was opened by the Queen last week, following a mammoth five-year construction project in which Vital Energi played a important role.

With over 100 million man-hours invested since construction began in September 2002, the terminal will cater for as many as 35million passengers annually. Built on the site of a former sludge works, construction of T5 has involved diverting two rivers and digging extensions to London Underground and Heathrow Express rail lines. With a £4.3billion investment by BAA, the opening signifies only the start of Heathrow’s transformation plans, with further terminals currently undergoing refurbishment and phase two of T5 set to open in 2010.

Playing an important  role in the delivery of energy to the acclaimed new terminal, Vital Energi was contracted by BAA to design, supply, install, test and commission a pipe network of approximately three kilometres, providing heating and cooling to the new terminal buildings.

With Heathrow already the world’s busiest airport, Vital Energi faced some unique challenges during the course of the project, which required careful risk planning and management.  Extreme care had to be taken whilst installing the pipeline underneath power, data and fibre cables, which are critical to aircraft landing safety.

Vital Energi’s installation provides a long term environmentally friendly and efficient energy solution, which is expected to deliver a significant CO2 emission reduction of 10,877 tonnes annually, as well as generate annual financial savings of £500,000, primarily as a result of fuel reductions. Ecological concerns were taken into consideration during the project, as Vital Energi worked closely with BAA staff and local ecologists to ensure that a discovery of duck eggs was protected during installation, and that due care and attention was paid to rare plant and animal species along nearby rivers.

David Hutchinson, Vital Energi’s lead engineer and project manager on this scheme comments: “Throughout this exciting and challenging contract Vital Energi demonstrated its ability to deal with difficult and demanding parameters. This has been an innovative project from start to finish and we have faced some unique obstacles, which we have overcome very successfully. Timescales were vital on this project, which, for our part we completed on time and in budget”