Birmingham District Energy Scheme

The first phase (the Broad Street Scheme) encompassed a range of buildings in the central business district served by an Energy Centre at the International Convention Centre (ICC), and was launched in October 2007. Further phases began operation at Aston University during 2009 and Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 2010. The schemes are also being extended into several regeneration areas across the city and, ultimately, all of these sub-schemes’ will be linked together to improve resilience and maximise energy saving opportunities. The Birmingham District Energy Scheme has enjoyed rapid growth since its inception, enabling the ongoing expansion of the scheme and its combined low carbon plant capacity, as more customers have come on stream.

As the scheme evolves, ENGIE’s innovative approach ensures that low carbon technologies are applied to maximum effect. For example, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Scheme (which includes a connection to Birmingham City Council’s Lancaster Circus) features a low carbon Energy Centre housing a 1.6MWe CHP, designed and built by BDEC and is expected to save 4,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum. Overall, the scheme is saving over 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum compared to traditional systems. 

Facts