The London Trams depot in Croyden is to become cleaner, greener and cheaper to run following its success in securing government funding.
The funding was awarded from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, a pot earmarked for grant funding for public sector bodies in England for decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects.
The size of the grant is GBP 592,000. It will be delivered by Salix Finance. TfL is contributing the remainder of the funds necessary to convert this depot into a low-carbon depot. These works will make it the first low-carbon depot on the TfL network.
Measures that this funding will pay for include an upgrade to the heating system, with a mix of heat pumps and infrared panel heaters to replace ageing, inefficient gas boilers. The additional electricity needed for the new heating system is to be offset by using 1,800 square metres of south-facing roof space for solar panels and by introducing other energy efficiency measures like LED lighting and better insulation.
“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.”
The energy efficiency measures planned for this depot are part of TfL’s wider project to decarbonise the capital’s transport network. TfL is one of the UK’s largest consumers of electricity. It has recently started tendering for a Power Purchase Agreement under which it is aiming to procure between 80 and 200GWh annually to provide up to 10 percent of TfL’s electricity requirements from renewables. The contract is to be awarded in 2024.
Work on the improvements at the depot are to be completed by 2025.
