Power generation specialist the Edina Group,thesoledistributorforMWMinthe UK and Ireland, has been awarded the contract to supply and install 2x1MWe gas engine generator sets during the redevelopment of Merrion House in Leeds, UK.
Merrion House, built in the 1960s, has been a council office for almost 40 years, and is large enough to house 1200 of the council’s workforce, but is being re-worked as a ‘customer service hub’ and main office for Leeds City Council. The development is part of an initiative to reduce the council’s office buildings in the city centre from seventeen to four.
The Merrion House project is a partnership of Leeds City Council and Town Centre Securities Plc that is being delivered by BAM Construction. Edina Group has been awarded the contract to replace the building’s existing stand-by diesel generators, and supply and install two natural gas 1MWe TCG 2020V12K generator sets, manufactured by German company MWM, as part of the building power infrastructure.
The generator’s primary function will be to deliver standby power, but a significant new role will be the export of peak lopping power to the National Grid, bringing revenue through the capacity mechanism market. The design plan also includes the capability to be converted at a later date to CHP operation via the addition of heat exchangers to recover engine and exhaust heat.
It was considered that gas engines would be ‘greener’ than diesel, that they would reduce operational costs, and would be able to burn cleaner and cheaper fuel when compared to their diesel counterpart. The MWM gas generating sets selected are said to have a reputation for being electrically and thermally efficient, offering good reliability and availability.
The ‘new’ Merrion House is scheduled to open for business in 2018.