E.ON and Carrier City of London Decarbonisation Project Wins Net Zero Hero Award

Carrier and E.ON have won the Net Zero Hero award at the Heating and Ventilating Review (HVR) Awards 2022 for the project to help decarbonise the Citigen district heating energy centre in the city of London. The Citigen project is expected to provide 50% reductions in carbon emissions from heating and cooling customers connected to E.ON’s City of London heat network, contributing to the city’s net-zero emissions goals and enhancing air quality. Carrier is part of Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR), the leading global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions.

Three Carrier AquaForce^® 61XWHZE high-temperature heat pumps, which operate on hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) R-1234ze refrigerant, extract thermal energy from water pumped from deep boreholes in the aquifer 200 metres beneath the capital. The heat pumps also harness waste heat from the existing combined heat and power plant that would otherwise be lost to the atmosphere.

"The Net Zero award is fantastic recognition for the work we have done with E.ON to reduce carbon emissions for the City of London heat and cooling network," said Neil Hitching, Marketing Director, Europe, Carrier HVAC. "The Citigen project is ground-breaking in a number of areas, particularly in its use of ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) HFO refrigerant and parallel harnessing of energy from groundwater and waste heat from the power generation unit. We believe it could become an important model for how to decarbonise heat networks in the future, as the UK seeks to achieve the net zero targets set for 2050."

The project is part of a multi-million pound programme by E.ON to transform how connected buildings in the Square Mile are heated and cooled. The 4MW of extra heating capacity is equivalent to the demand of 2,300 average UK homes and is complemented by a further 2.8MW of new cooling capacity to customers across the financial district. The new technology adds to Citigen’s existing combined heat and power engines which already produce enough electricity and heating for the equivalent of more than 11,000 homes.

The refrigerant used in the selected heat pumps, R-1234ze, has a GWP of less than 1, significantly lower than the previous refrigerant, and therefore has only a tiny fraction of the environmental impact.

"Tackling the environmental impact of heating, especially in densely populated areas, will be key to meeting the UK’s 2050 net zero targets, and with the heat pump and geothermal technology at Citigen we’re making a powerful statement of what can be done to reduce carbon usage on a large scale," said Antony Meanwell, Head of Decarbonisation, City Energy Solutions, E.ON. "This project required a huge team effort to develop the ideas, translate them into plans and finally make our project a reality on the ground. Completing the installation on time – and during COVID-19 lockdown – is testament to the ambition, creativity and commitment of all involved."

Please visit the Carrier website for more details about Carrier's AquaForce^® 61XWHZE heat pumps.

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