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Barking Riverside is one of the largest brownfield regeneration sites in Europe and will create a vibrant community consisting of over 10,000 homes, 65,000 m² of commercial space and associated infrastructure.
Vital Energi are designing and delivering the heat network which will distribute heat and hot water throughout the development and, to date, have completed the connection of five occupied apartment blocks.
Our team have designed and delivered 2km of fusion welded heat network, with band joints, to ensure longevity and resilience. The project comes with a built-in alarm system which is designed to pinpoint any faults, allowing maintenance work to be undertaken at the first possible instance.
During the design process we undertook extensive work to ensure the pipework route did not clash with any other utilities or other obstructions.
This saw us liaise closely with the developer’s professional team from design, through to delivery and we attended several design clash workshops to evolve the design. Unusually for a district heating project, we were able to deliver 50% of the heat network above ground using brackets which could secure the pipework and allow expansion and contraction along the network route and helped us avoid service clashes.
The district heating network will eventually grow to 7km as the build out progresses and more homes and businesses are connected to the development. In the initial stages, heat is provided from a temporary energy centre, which will be replaced by the permanent energy solution in 2024.
One challenge presented to our delivery team was that the process of connecting the residential blocks gave us a tight and logistically cramped space, working with other utility contractors across multiple trenches.