Wednesday 1 May 2019

Carbis Bay Hotel hopes to book in £30k energy savings with CHP units

Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate in St Ives is hoping to save at least £30,000 a year on energy costs following the installation of two combined heat and power (CHP) units.

The luxury hotel installed two 35kW CHP units in collaboration with Centrica as part of the energy giant’s £19 million Local Energy Market (LEM), which is testing the role of flexible power generation and smart energy solutions across Cornwall.

A total of 150 homes and businesses are part of the virtual marketplace that provides them with a platform to buy from and sell energy to the grid and the wholesale electricity market and reduce pressure on the local grid.

Dan Allister, Senior Marketing & Development Manager at Carbis Bay said the grid issues in Cornwall were affecting customers’ experience at the hotel and a “more consistent energy solution” was needed.

The hotel, therefore, installed the units which produce electricity and use the heat that is normally wasted in conventional power generation and enable the generation of additional income by reducing or increasing energy use under the trial.

Mr Allister told ELN: “It’s very early days for us but we’re certainly estimating at least £30,000 a year on our energy cost, on our purchase of our energy. We will save at least 70 tonnes of carbon a year, output from our old boiler systems and our old energy usage. So two huge benefits already and obviously that’s year one, we’re hoping to see improved benefits as the years go by.”

The LEM trial is being delivered in partnership with Western Power Distribution, alongside National Grid, Exeter University and Imperial College London.