Main contractor Galliford Try began the foundations of the £20m combined heat & power energy centre in January 2020.
The energy centre will feed a new low temperature district heating network. It is designed to produce enough heat and power to supply the equivalent of 2,500 homes. First customers will be the new Hilton hotel, shops and more than 400 apartments currently being delivered as part of the Victoria Square development, a £540m project being led by Sir Robert McAlpine.
The energy centre has been designed to be both scalable and flexible, capable of generating up to 10MW of heat, and adopting progressively lower carbon technologies over the next 10 years.
It comprises a three-storey building with energy plant and equipment on the ground and first floors and new head offices on the third floor for ThamesWey, which is Woking Borough Council’s housing and development company.
The building is being constructed to be capable of upward extension of up to a further 17 stories of co-living space. When complete the flues from the energy centre will stand 29.3 metres high.
Mechanical & engineering consultant on the project is Hulley & Kirkwood; Vital Energi has been working on the project since 2018 and recently won the contract to undertake the mechanical & electrical services installations.
Rob Callaghan, regional director for Vital Energi, said: “This scheme was designed with long-term growth in mind and will be able to meet Woking’s energy needs well into the future, providing a resilient, low-carbon energy infrastructure.”
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