challenge
Weeton is a typical size, non-staffed station managed by operating company, Northern Rail. It does not comprise of heated areas. However, all the facilities within the station are accessible by the public. Therefore, the site only comprises of electrical consumption and not gas. The major challenge was to identify the main energy consuming groups as the station had limitations surrounding sub-metering and equipment specification on site.
Q Sustain used the Energy Hierarchy approach which involved understanding the energy consumption from all systems at the station and recommending energy efficiency improvements. This was followed by identifying the renewable technologies suitable at the site.
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solution
After understanding the current system, the different energy efficiency measures recommended by Q Sustain showed a reduction in consumption by 24%.
To achieve carbon neutrality at the station, Solar and Wind technologies were explored. The ground mounted solar PV technology identified was promising for Weeton station and could generate about 68% more energy than consumed by the station. However, due to the variability in renewable generation and the typical ‘shoulder’ periods of reduced generation during the evening and in winter months, it was likely some small residual grid electricity consumption would still be required unless some battery storage could be installed.
Of the technologies recommended within this report, all recommendations present a promising business case with paybacks expected to be less than 12 years. Furthermore, the carbon payback based on the Whole Life Carbon (WLC), was estimated to be less than 7.8 years minimum.