The London Tramlink depot at Therapia Lane is to benefit from a grant which will enable it to become cleaner, greener and cheaper to run as part of Transport for London’s aim to introduce low carbon depots to meet the Mayor’s goal of a net-zero London by 2030.
TfL have received funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. This aims to provide grants for public sector bodies in England to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.
In total £592,000 has been awarded and this will go towards several improvements at Therapia Lane – in completing the work it will become the first of a number of low carbon depots across the TfL network. Other funding for the project will come from TfL’s own decarbonisation investment which is part of the current Business Plan.
Included in the work will be the upgrading of heating systems with a mixture of efficient heat pumps and infrared panel heaters that will replace ageing and inefficient gas boilers. The additional electricity consumption from the new heating system is planned to be offset by using 1,800m2 of south-facing roof space for solar panels, as well as other energy efficient measures such as improved insulation and LED lighting.
Mark Davis, TfL’s General Manager for London Trams, said: “The planned improvements at the Therapia Lane depot are key to demonstrate that removal of fossils fuels from large, hard-to-decarbonise depots is feasible. Once this work is complete, the depot will not only be cleaner and greener it will be better shielded from more costly fossil fuels to help provide significant cost savings.”