Heathrow's T2 energy centre wins CIPS award
CIPS is a global organisation dedicated to promoting best practices in procurement and supply. The shortlist included Balfour Beatty, EDF Energy, The FA Group and LOCOG.
The award recognises ‘the highly measurable and sustainable results’ associated with a state of the art wood fuel energy system at Heathrow’s new Terminal 2 development. The 10MW Combined Heating and Power (CHP) system - the largest ‘own use’ renewable energy installation in the UK - will open later this year. Prior to serving T2, due to open in Spring 2014, the biomass energy plant will provide base heating and power to Terminal 5.
The wood fuel process will enable Heathrow to reduce CO2 emissions at the airport by at least 13,000 tonnes each year, compared with producing the same output from natural gas. The aim is to reduce Heathrow’s carbon footprint by 34% by 2020.
To ensure sustainability of the wood chip power and bring life to under-managed woodlands in the South East of England, Heathrow has entered into a 15-year wood fuel supply contract with leading wood chip provider, LC Energy.
Heathrow’s senior procurement manager, Dianne Sanders said: “The CIPS award for CSR demonstrates that we take sustainability extremely seriously. The tender process sought to achieve a sustainable end to end supply chain. This is a very exciting contract delivering sustainable benefits to the local community as well as Heathrow.”
LC energy will supply 25,000 tonnes of wood chip a year, 75% of which will come from timber. This will be sourced within a 50-mile radius of the airport, reducing haulage requirements, costs and CO2 emissions. In addition, the ash from the timber will be recycled and used to make fertiliser for reuse on the land, which in turn delivers further cost-savings. This process also eliminates the need to send the ash to land fill.
As one of the UK’s leading suppliers of sustainable wood fuel power, LC Energy’s managing director, Mark Lebus, said: “We’re ecstatic that the CIPS has recognised the contribution Heathrow has made to corporate responsibility and sustainability and the efforts we’re making to reduce Heathrow’s reliance on ever-decreasing fossil fuels. We regard this award as testimony to the value of the work we are doing and it demonstrates how a biomass supply chain is a credible and long- term solution to sustainability.”
"Furthermore, the community benefits in a number of ways, from the jobs created in rural areas due to the large volumes of timber required through to better management of previously neglected woodland, improving biodiversity and providing havens for wildlife at these sites.
"By sourcing the wood fuel from the surrounding region, we’re also reducing emissions and energy use involved in transporting the fuel."
