Bristol Airport has announced the arrival of its new £10million energy centre, a facility designed to provide low-carbon heat and cooling. The airport will become one of the first in the UK to remove gas heating from its terminal, a major step towards achieving its target of net zero airport operations by 2030.
The energy centre is designed to produce, store and distribute low carbon thermal energy to heat the main terminal buildings and the terminal extensions in the winter, and cool them in the summer months. Swapping gas boilers for air source heat pumps at this scale is largely unprecedented and will involve 22 air source heat pumps.
The energy centre will save around 625 tonnes of CO2e annually, the equivalent of taking 135 passenger vehicles off the road for an entire year. Bristol Airport already utilises on-site renewables to generate electricity, including a three-acre solar farm on its airfield.
For the past four months, the plant room of the energy centre has been constructed off-site. Its modular design meant that it was transported in four parts, before being lifted into position using a 200-tonne crane. Since March, specialist teams have been working at the airport laying new underground pipes that will transport energy and connect to the heating and cooling system via the terminal basement.
The plant room facility contains the pump sets, pipework and valves, which will control the flow of heated and chilled water and manage the overall heating system. Work will now continue to fully connect all the pipework through to the terminal’s air handling units.
Hannah Pollard, Bristol Airport’s Head of Sustainability, said: “Bristol was the first airport to commit to net zero operations by 2030 and to ensure we remain on track, we set ourselves an interim target of reducing carbon emissions by 73% compared to pre pandemic levels. This demonstrates the airport’s commitment to lowering its carbon footprint.”
The energy centre is part of a broader sustainability programme at Bristol Airport. Decarbonising buildings is one of the three key pillars to achieving net zero operations by 2030, alongside transitioning to electric vehicles and investing in renewable energy.
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