Sustainable Power for Warehousing

Tritax Symmetry has entered into its first joint enterprise project with BasePower, a developer and operator of sustainable energy services, to supply clients at Symmetry Park Biggleswade with uninterrupted greener, cheaper warehousing power solutions, through the creation of a new on site 2MW energy centre.

Located on a greenfield site where the grid is constrained, the centre will augment the grid with renewable and resilient generation from a number of sources including rooftop solar PV, batteries and a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant.

The announcement is the latest in a series of sustainability measures the developer has taken in recent years to de-carbonise its schemes including achieving net zero carbon in construction across all of its construction programmes.

The project was specified, designed, procured and built by BasePower who will continue to develop energy systems in line with the evolving needs of the tenants.

The principal contractors on the project included Rolls Royce, whose Power Systems division installed the mtu-brand CHP systems, battery units and standby generators. Powersystems UK acted as the high voltage (HV) specialist partner for the electrical infrastructure. Service personnel from Rolls-Royce Power System’s UK subsidiary will provide ongoing maintenance to ensure operational excellence.

Speaking about the alliance, Tom Leeming, development director at Tritax Symmetry commented: “One of the priorities our clients have when deciding on a new location for their business is power. As a responsible developer, we realised the need to supplement and enhance the national grid supply to ensure a continuous, robust and greener alternative power supply for our occupiers.
“The installation of energy centres on our parks will provide tenants at the site with greater resilience, more competitive energy and a pathway to fully net zero carbon in occupation. As the energy centre is managed by a separate entity, all maintenance and repairs are delivered cost free with no risk to the occupier. We estimate a saving of between five and ten percent on grid energy bills, and the energy centres are also upgradable if extra power is needed, such as by adding additional PV.”

Dan Poulson, co-founder at BasePower continued: “The need for the creation of alternative energy resources has never been greater and we are proud to have been selected by Tritax Symmetry for this project in Biggleswade along with multiple energy projects on their other sites. Across our business we currently operate ten energy centres in the UK with a further 20 in development. Through their lifecycles we invest to enhance each site to deliver increasing levels of decarbonisation as client requirements evolve.”

Rob Pitt, Director – Operations at Rolls-Royce Solutions UK commented: “This project has been a great opportunity for collaboration and partnership with the client team from initial concept design through to project delivery and ongoing operational support. Our extensive product portfolio and system capabilities enabled us to provide an integrated microgrid solution that enhances the local grid supply and delivers on the brief for cleaner, resilient power that can flex in line with site demands”.