Engineers developing HS2’s Old Oak Common hub are proposing to use heat from the brakes and engines of high-speed trains to provide energy for up to 500 new homes planned for nearby.
The scheme would see five air source heat pumps draw warm air from the railway’s tunnels in north-west London, where the waste heat from trains is usually extracted by traditional ventilation systems and seeps into the ground surrounding the tunnels.
But HS2 plans to feed waste heat into a local district heating system instead. It estimates that the investment in the waste heat recycling system would pay for itself after four years, based on current energy prices.
It also claimed that compared to gas boilers being used in the homes, recycling heat generated by trains’ engines and brakes could reduce the carbon footprint of 500 houses by more than a fifth (22%).
HS2 innovation manager, Pablo García, said: “We’re investigating how to provide sustainable, low-carbon heating and hot water to up to 500 new homes. Near Old Oak Common we’re building a crossover box. This is an underground hall that houses a points junction to enable trains to arrive and depart from any of the station’s platforms.
“Our plans would see warm air pushed into the crossover box by trains, in effect acting like pistons. It then rises to be harnessed by air source heat pumps, converted into hot water and transported to homes by insulated pipes.”
Plans are at an early stage but the technology is proven. HS2 said it will work with local partners to make the aspiration a reality.
