A heat network operator is expecting a significant growth over the next few years in the demand for heat in the heat network. A temporary Heating Plant that provided redundancy to capture the generated unit in case of outages was in need of replacement. After investigating a host of alternative heat sources, the choice fell on an electric auxiliary heating plant with an electric boiler instead of a gas-fired boiler due to its environmental efficiency, faster licensing (no nitrogen emissions) and lower investment costs.
About this project: installation of an E-boiler
Realising the project included the installation of the E-boiler in a reused and refurbished building. New pipes had to be laid to integrate it into the heat network. And they also had be connected to the underground supply and return pipes of the district heating system, to the Heat Transfer Station and to residual heat from a sludge combustor.
Vicoma’s role: deployment of multidisciplinary team
Vicoma took care of the basic engineering, detail engineering, procurement support, construction, Field and Project Management. It also worked closely with the manufacturer, other Engineering parties, BoWoTo, LRQA and the heat network operator on realising the E-AHP building.
Vicoma’s Project-Construction Manager and Field Engineer devoted two years on managing the entire process. From demolition work to supplying the foundations piles, complete refurbishment of the building, installation of the new pipe bridges, E-AHP building and connection to the sludge combustor. n option to expand to another city has also already been prepared. And the connections to install a Buffer Tank are also ready, a project that will take shape in the future.
The main challenge during implementation was to realise the new plant in an existing facility without causing disruptions to production. And the project had to be finished before the winter of 2022-2023.
Result
Based on the documents, procurement assistance, construction and supervision that Vicoma partly provided, the heat network operator was able to carry out the work safely within the revised completion deadline, without loss of production. The new E-boiler enables the operator to supply heat to the heat network at a lower cost and with higher reliability. This fulfils the operator’s obligation of setting up the reserve capacity on the one hand. And, on the other, fulfils the strategy to support the region in making the heating of the built environment more sustainable. The combination of the heat pipelines and the new E-Boiler ensures a reliable heat supply. But it is also relatively simple now to integrate the system into future expansions and new heat projects.
