Excess cooling capacity from CHP trigeneration plants for office buildings could help to reduce the temperature of the London Underground.

Allan Jones, chief executive of the London Climate Change Agency, confirmed Transport for London was considering the option to help cool Tube stations, which can reach more than 35ºC in summer.

Trigeneration plants use heat from a CHP system to power an absorption chiller to generate cooling. Under the LCCA proposal, any spare cooling capacity would be used to remove heat from the Underground.

The LCCA also said that dedicated trigeneration plants could be built above King’s Cross, Euston and Waterloo stations.

Transport for London programme director Kevin Payne said that the need for cooling would become greater with the number of Tube trains set to increase by 30%.

Approximately 38% of heat generated in the Underground comes from train brakes. Passengers generate about 4%.

Transport for London said the plans were at an early stage. The LCCA was set up by the London Development Agency to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the energy, waste, water and transport sectors.

Source

Building Sustainable Design