Vital Energi, the UK's leading provider of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Community Heating (CH) schemes is  delivering energy efficient heating and hot water supply to tenants of a locally based Housing Association in Lochgilphead, Argyll, after being chosen to replace the previous CH provider which went into liquidation.

Vital Energi was called in to rectify the operational problems and upgrade the CH system for Fyne Homes' Ross Crescent Estate, thanks to a referral from the scheme's original financier The Cooperative Bank plc.  The immediate brief was to carry out an assessment of the installation and conduct emergency repairs to make the Energy Centre operational. 

As part of the recommissioning project, Vital Energi was responsible for repairing and modifying the estate's existing CH mains network, modernising the on-site water treatment facilities and upgrading the wood chip fuelled boiler installation in order to increase the reliability of the system and to achieve security of supply.  The dwelling heating controls were also upgraded and 'EasyPay' pre-payment heat meters installed to help residents spread the cost of fuel bills and manage their payments more effectively.

Comments Peter McDonald, Operations Manager from Fyne Homes: “Following the unfortunate liquidation of our previous supplier, ensuring ongoing reliable key utilities to our tenants was of critical importance. Vital Energi was able to quickly and efficiently take over the implementation of our project and provide emergency problem solving support.  The appointment of Vital Energi and their professional and efficient response means that we now have the peace of mind that our system offers reliable and continuous energy to each of our tenants and in an efficient manner.”

Comments Vital Energi's Helge Wonsbek: “The customer's priority was always the comfort of its Ross Crescent tenants and our project was therefore about making the scheme operate efficiently as soon as possible. At the same time, however, we were determined to achieve the estate's long term objectives of reduced CO2 emissions and more cost effective energy provision.

“Our work has seen the CH scheme become both functional and more efficient and we have built increased reliability into its operation. This work was borne out of a problem solving brief and so our ability to work on projects at any stage of the scheme was particularly relevant. 

“Modern CH and CHP solutions including wood chip fuelled systems are going to become more and more common as the Government and public increasingly demand that energy generation becomes more efficient and socially responsible.  New installations and project upgrades will become even more common.”