Renewable Energy

Although generally too expensive to implement as a stand-alone technology on conventional payback criteria without grant support or subsidy renewable energy is included in the Thameswey EESCO concept where dilution economics and the advantages of private wire technology can be applied by integrating renewable energy with sustainable green technologies such as CHP, as applied to the photovoltaics for the Woking Park - Fuel Cell CHP project. The cost of renewable energy technologies should reduce in time, particularly if there is increased activity in this area by way of integrated green technology best practice.

The Council implemented 14 off-grid photovoltaic pay and display machines in Woking Town Centre in 1997 demonstrating that off-grid photovoltaics was more economical both in capital and running cost terms than conventional grid connected pay and display machines just by simply including the cost of grid connection with the tender for the supply and installation rather than carrying out these two activities separately. The alternative off-grid photovoltaic system was cheaper both in capital and running cost terms when the high cost of grid connection is taken into account, even in a highly urbanised town centre location. The off-grid photovoltaic system with solar batteries has not failed once in the last 5 years compared to several grid supply interruptions to other street furniture in the same period.

Following the success of this project the Council has implemented further off-grid photovoltaic pay and display machines in other parts of the Borough and is also in the process of developing an intelligent off-grid photovoltaic/wind turbine street lighting system with a renewable energy manufacturer to provide continuous night-time illumination, even during the darkest months of winter, for a rural footpath scheme.

The Council has installed the largest domestic photovoltaic systems in the UK and the first such system integrated with CHP on a private wire system utilising a 81.5kWp photovoltaics roof and 30kWe CHP system providing a reverse winter/summer electricity profile with the potential to achieve 100% sustainability in electricity. A further 85kWp of photovoltaic roofs has been completed at the Vyne, Knaphill Surgery and Broadway House all interconnected together on a wide area private wire CHP network with a total generation capacity of 115kW.

These systems are unique in that they do not dump their electricity into the grid but supply customers directly on private wire networks extracting the true value of green energy.

10kWp of solar shading photovoltaic glazing systems to reduce solar gain/generate renewable electricity have also been installed at the Pool In The Park.

A further 259.4kWp of photovoltaic projects are about to commence on site, some of which are being supported by grants under the DTI Major Photovoltaic Demonstration Programme, including the first phase of the Victoria Way Multi-Storey Car Park photovoltaic roof system to be interconnected to the Woking Energy Station private wire network as phase 1 of a proposed renewable hydrogen energy/zero emission vehicle scheme. A further 1MWp of photovoltaic projects are also being planned.

Biomass CHP is being evaluated for the utilisation of biomass products and the sustainability of providing energy to local communities.

A Sustainable Waste to Energy Recycling Versatile Envirosystem (SWERVE) scheme based on anaerobic digestion/gasification plant and molten carbonate fuel cell technology is also planned for the Borough. See Waste and Recycling.