London 2012: Solar power in place at Stratford towards the ‘greenest games ever’
Infrastructure designed to make London 2012 the greenest Games ever has been complete, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced.
Games chiefs say they are on track to better a challenging 50 per cent target to reduce the carbon footprint of the Olympic Park at Stratford with the completion of the London 2012 Energy Centre and a scheme to fit solar panels to the Main Press Centre.
Plus a major retrofit energy scheme for London schools – funded by the ODA and being carried out by the Greater London Authority - is about to launch.
Newham schools to benefit are: North Beckton and Portway primaries and St Bonaventure’s Comprehensive
Meanwhile, London organisers LOCOG have unveiled its pre-Games sustainability report which highlights the “substantial effort” being made this summer to reduce its projected carbon footprint by at least 6,000 tonnes.
ODA Chief Executive Dennis Hone said: “We set out to push the boundaries on the construction of the Olympic Park to see how sustainable we could make the venues and infrastructure – not just for the Games but for years afterwards. The result is one that the UK construction and engineering industries can be proud of as a showcase of innovation and careful planning.”
The London 2012 Energy Centre is now fully operational, including a three megawatt biomass boiler. The facility is around 30 per cent more efficient that traditional heat and power generation methods, capturing and using waste heat to power venues on the site since 2010. During Games-time, the Energy Centre will provide heating and cooling to the Olympic Park and Village, and will export low carbon power to the national grid.
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Solar panels (photovoltaic cells) have also been installed on the roof of the Main Press Centre to generate renewable energy, saving around 170 tonnes of carbon every year later cells will be fitted to the roof of the adjacent multi-storey car park.
In total these will deliver aroound eleven per cent of the post-Games Olympic Park energy requirements from renewable technology.
Around 700 tonnes of carbon – equivalent to 140 Olympic-sized swimming pools - will be saved by fitting energy-saving technology in 12 London 2012 host borough schools.
