Manchester CHP project tower complete

Manchester has taken a step towards its carbon neutral ambitions with the completion of a flue tower and façade enclosing the new Vital Energi combined heat and power energy centre in the city’s Civic Quarter.

Manchester has taken a step towards its carbon neutral ambitions with the completion of a flue tower and façade enclosing the new Vital Energi combined heat and power (CHP) energy centre in the city’s Civic Quarter. The ‘Tower of light’ is the chimney for a new energy project - the  Civic Quarter Heat Network – intended to power buildings including Central Library and the Manchester Art Gallery, by sending electricity and heat - via hot water - through underground pipes.

Its 40m tall structure employs Tonkin Liu's Shell Lace structural technique, developed in collaboration with Arup, to make super-light, super-thin single-surface structures. Made from tailored 3-8mm thick laser-cut sheets that are then curved and welded together to create a stiff strong surface, the biomimetic structure will support the chimneys from the base of the energy centre. It is an ultra-lightweight, vertical single surface structure whose form is its strength, using the least material possible.

The tower holds a 3.3MWe CHP engine and two 12MW gas boilers which will generate electricity and harness the recovered heat for distribution to the various buildings through a 2km district heating network.

However, the project, has been branded a “tower of shame” by scientists from not-for-profit consultancy quitcarbon.eu for its use of natural gas. In response, Manchester City Council note the project is system is an enabling, transition technology, which will need to be replaced by either a renewable or ultra-low carbon energy generation system in due course.