The unique nature of the project was praised by the judges. It involves the installation of a 300kW heat pump by the National Trust of Wales at their Plas Newydd mansion in Anglesey. The heat pump utilises the tidal currents of the Menai Strait to provide the power needed to heat the property. It was manufactured by renewable energy company Stiebel Eltron UK and installed by Kimpton Energy Services, both of whom are headquartered in Bromborough, Wirral.
Plas Newydd previously consumed up to 138,000 litres of oil annually at a cost of around £70,000. However, in May, the National Trust unveiled the heat pump project which is the first of five schemes to be completed in a £3.5 million pilot phase of the Trust’s Renewable Energy Investment Programme.
Earlier this month, Stiebel Eltron UK won Commercial Project of the Year in the Energy
Efficiency and Renewables Awards for its work at Plas Newydd and last week also captured the Low Carbon Award at the Wirral Business Awards for the same scheme.
The heat pump uses a small amount of water from the Menai Strait, directing it through a network of pipes to and from a heat exchanger located on the shore. The water is then pumped up 30 metres of cliff face to the mansion’s boiler house.
“It is fantastic for everyone involved in the Plas Newydd project to win such as prestigious honour in the Wales Green Energy Awards” said Mark McManus, Managing Director of Stiebel Eltron UK. “This latest success caps a remarkable month for Stiebel Eltron UK and our partners on the National Trust project. “The installation of the pump is transforming energy usage at Plas Newydd, dramatically improving its CO2 performance and saving tens of thousands of pounds a year that were previously being spent on oil.”
Richard Kimption, Managing Director of Kimpton Energy Services, added that the project was an innovative and challenging venture for everyone involved.
The project takes advantage of the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which should mean that the National Trust’s investment will be paid back within seven years. The installation is part of the National Trust’s ‘Grow Your Own Energy’ programme which is aiming to reduce the Trust’s energy usage by 20 percent, meeting half of its energy requirements through renewables. The heat pump scored a number of firsts, being the first marine source heat pump of its kind in the UK, the largest at 300kW and the first to be situated in open sea rather than in a harbour.
Other key partners in the project included Seacams, led by the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University, and 100 percent renewable electricity supplier Good Energy, the company that launched the Renewable Energy Investment Programme with the National Trust last year.
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