Shawfair District Heat Network

Edinburgh, UK

Shawfair is a major, primarily residential development located to the south-east of Edinburgh. Consisting of more than 3,000 homes and 1 million ft² of commercial space, it promises country living within easy reach of the city – just a 15-minute train ride from the Scottish capital.

Buro Happold was appointed as engineering consultant for Shawfair, a new development to the south-east of Edinburgh.

The development will provide 3,000 new homes and 1 million ft² of commercial space.

Our energy team delivered the project engineering, undertaking the specialist district energy system design covering energy modelling, hydraulic modelling and mechanical engineering.

Key systems included 20MWth energy centre low temperature hot water, 12MWth of back-up renewable heat generation and an 8km district heating network.

Challenge

Buro Happold carried out the multi-disciplinary Stage 3 design of the new energy centre and district heat network serving the new development.

In 2020 Midlothian Energy Ltd. was formed as a joint venture between Midlothian Council and Vattenfall Heat UK, aimed at delivering low carbon heat to households across Midlothian and south Edinburgh. The Shawfair Energy Centre project represents a first key step towards achieving this, through the supply of heat to the new Shawfair development from the Millerhill Energy Recycling and Recovery Centre.

Buro Happold was appointed as engineering consultant, with our energy team delivering the specialist district energy system design covering energy modelling, hydraulic modelling, mechanical and process engineering, HV/LV electrical design and process safety (HAZID) reviews.

The brownfield nature of the site, along with the area’s former coal mining history posed a number of challenges around site characterisation, ground investigations and utility connections. We worked closely with the client and its appointed ground investigation consultants to establish a basis from which to develop building and site-wide designs, along with an approach to adapt designs should new information become available during ongoing site development work.

Solution

Key engineering systems included the 20MWth energy centre low temperature hot water system, 12MWth of back-up renewable heat generation, 400m³ of thermal energy storage, 8km district heating network and nine customer heat stations.

The multi-disciplinary design of the new energy centre building included civil engineering and infrastructure design (covering drainage and utilities coordination), ground engineering, energy centre structural design and energy centre building services and system-wide controls design.

Throughout the project, Buro Happold worked closely with Vattenfall’s engineering team based out of Scotland, Amsterdam and Berlin. This ensured the designs of the energy centre and district heating system incorporated Vattenfall technical standards and experiences gained from designing and operating major city-wide heat networks across Europe.

Specific requirements relating to process engineering design, process safety, system resilience and controls were established from the outset and incorporated into final designs through ongoing collaboration throughout the project.

In aiming to deliver Vattenfall’s goal of achieving “fossil free living within one generation”, the Buro Happold energy centre design incorporated back-up heat generation to the heat network from low carbon or renewable fuel sources using electric boilers and renewable fuel oil boilers, with a total capacity of 12MWth. Our design of the district heat network also incorporated transient hydraulic modelling of the network.

Working with Hydraulic Analysis Limited, dynamic modelling of the network design was undertaken to assess the impact of plant trips/failures and transient load scenarios. Pressure surge modelling and water hammer analysis was undertaken to support the design of the district energy systems and definition of operating parameters and design ratings.

Shawfair Energy Centre 3D Revit model – Stage 3 design undertaken by Buro Happold

Value

Buro Happold’s Stage 3 design was successfully completed in February 2022, with outputs feeding into the architectural design, planning application and further site development. Following completion of Buro Happold’s design, heat supply agreements with the Shawfair development have been secured and a main contractor appointed by Vattenfall in September 2022 to develop the Stage 3 design through to construction, which started on site in early 2023.

The project will enable the provision of low carbon heat via a low temperature district heating network to more than 3,000 homes, capturing heat from the nearby Millerhill Energy Recycling and Recovery Centre.

Client Testimonial

Buro Happold played a key role in bringing the design of the Shawfair project to life. Working as part of the project team, they developed the design, providing insight and depth of knowledge to support key technical decision making on the project. It’s great to work with a responsive team who share your vision for the project, understand the constraints and limitations we are working with, and are able to identify and mitigate risks in a collaborative manner

Andy Yuill, Head of Engineering, Vattenfall Heat UK