Somers Town Energy Network
Providing low-carbon heat and hot water to homes and community buildings, find out how the Somers Town Heat Network supports Camden's net zero ambitions.
After designing and delivering the Somers Town Heat Network for Camden Council, we secured an operation and maintenance contract to oversee the ongoing performance of the network. Through proactive inspections, planned maintenance and continuous performance monitoring, we ensure residents receive efficient, reliable heat and hot water while supporting the council's long-term decarbonisation objectives.
We've supported the Somers Town Heat Network since 2014, when we connected existing communal heating systems through 581m of district heating pipework linked to a new energy centre retrofitted within an underused car park.
Following the successful delivery of the scheme, we were appointed to operate and maintain the network for 15 years, providing long-term technical support and performance management.
Our operation and maintenance service includes weekly plant room inspections, system monitoring, meter readings, performance reporting, planned preventative maintenance and specialist equipment servicing.
By combining proactive maintenance with clear performance targets, we help maximise network efficiency, minimise downtime and maintain a consistent supply of heat and hot water for residents.
Vital Energi are a key long term partner for our Somers Town Energy project helping us use district heating systems to decarbonise our housing stock.
Each plant room is visited on a weekly basis which allows our experienced engineers to complete visual and audial checks of all the equipment.
These checks involve looking for leaks or corrosions, along with performing manual meter reads and data collection to monitor the operation of the equipment. System pressure checks are also completed which ensures all residents are receiving a strong supply of heat and hot water.
Servicing of the equipment is completed by manufacturers and specialist subcontractors, and is overseen by our engineers. These services take place at various times in the plant equipments’ life, for example, the gas boilers and district heating pumps are serviced annually, whereas the gas and fire alarms are serviced twice a year.
Planned energy shut downs only occur during select maintenance activities such as gas and fire alarm tests which only occur every 6 months. We keep disruption to residents at a minimum by only cutting off supply momentarily for up to 5 minutes.
The only other time there is a planned system shut down is once a year to empty the strainer which captures any debris from the water system to prevent it travelling around the scheme. As this can take a few hours to complete, we ensure the client is made aware of the activity in good time to inform the residents. We plan to complete the task during the working day when less people will be at home to reduce the disruption to the residents.
We have specific Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which have been laid out in our service agreement regarding the system efficiencies.
Some of these KPIs include providing 24/7 heat and hot water, an overall system efficiency of over 79.8%, and individual boiler efficiencies of above 80%. The results of these KPIs are all detailed in a monthly report that is supplied to the council which calculates the system efficiencies and can be used to compare previous months to identify system optimisation opportunities.