Elyo wins green Olympics contract

Elyo, a subsidiary of SUEZ Energy Services, has secured the contract to build, finance and operate two multi-million pound Olympic energy centres fuelled by CCHP and biomass.

The contract award follows news that planning permission has now been secured for the Olympic Park energy centres.

Elyo will build one centre in the west of the Olympic Park and the other within the Stratford City development, together with 16km of community energy networks.

The new infrastructure will provide efficient heating and cooling systems across the two locations both for the Games and the legacy communities that will develop after 2012.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and Stratford City Development jointly tendered the contract for a 40-year concession agreement that will see SUEZ invest more than £90 million in the Olympic Park and Stratford City development to finance the works.

SUEZ Energy Services will recover its investment through the long term operation rights of the new infrastructure.

ODA chief executive David Higgins said: “The contract with SUEZ Energy Services is a significant achievement and shows the power of the 2012 Games to generate substantial private sector investment into the Olympic Park and the long-term regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley."

The energy centres will include a Combined Cooling Heat and Power (CCHP) plant that simultaneously produces heating, cooling and electricity, and will also be equipped with biomass boilers using sustainable biomass fuels and natural gas to generate heat.

CCHP will provide 75% of the electrical power consumption, helping to achieve the target of a 20% reduction in carbon emissions through the use of renewables.

SUEZ Energy Services chief executive Jérôme Tolot said: “Providing energy efficiency is at the heart of our business, and these energy centres will utilise best in class technologies to achieve exemplary environmental performance and provide cost effective heating and cooling.”

Construction will begin later this summer to coincide with work on the main Olympics Park venues.

ODA spokesperson Stuart Buss said: “Elyo, as primary contractor for the project, will be responsible for putting the m&e contract out to tender. We also encourage our contractors to advertise their supply chain opportunities on the CompeteFor website, which matches companies to opportunities supplying London 2012 contractors."