Bristol Airport’s State of the Art Energy Centre Arrives

The new £10 million energy centre will 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.

Due to its size, it was transported in modules with the first arriving on Tuesday after the morning rush hour (7 July) under a police escort, as it weighs 17 tonnes and is over 4 metres wide and 12 metres long.

The multimillion-pound investment means Bristol Airport will be one of the first UK airports to remove gas boilers, transitioning to a renewable energy solution for heating and cooling.

Over the last four months the modular energy centre building has been under construction at an offsite manufacturing facility. This week, four steel-frame cladded modules were transported on a low loader travelling via the M5 to the Airport. They were lifted into position by a 200-tonne crane, with the full building erected over just two days.

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.

Swapping gas boilers for air source heat pumps at this scale is largely unprecedented and will involve 22 air source heat pumps and one electric boiler, which will provide additional heating and cooling capacity during peak demand periods. The transition will save c. 625 tonnes of co2e annually, which is the equivalent of taking 135 passenger vehicles off the road for an entire year and is also the same amount of energy used in 77 homes.

Hannah Pollard, Head of Sustainability at Bristol Airport, said:

“It’s incredible to see the energy centre being lifted into position today, considering work began just four months ago. Although a modular design, it’s a complex build and another major milestone for Bristol Airport. 

“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 Airport already has heat pumps in place serving Lulsgate House and Aviation House where staff are based, Silver Zone car park reception, the car rental building, the Western walkway and the Air Traffic Control tower.

The new energy centre is being installed near the Hampton by Hilton hotel and terminal building. The next stage is to install pipework leading from the energy centre through the terminal basement into the air handling units. Over the summer 22 air source heat pumps will be arriving. 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.