The Energy Centre will be built in the west of the Olympic Park, providing an efficient power, heating and cooling system across the site for the Games and for the new buildings and communities that will develop after 2012.

A planning application for the energy centre will be submitted in March and the latest designs have now been released as part of public consultation to allow local residents to have the opportunity to comment on the energy centre plans.

The Energy Centre will use innovative technologies to support the ODA’s commitment to utilising renewable energy technology and providing efficient energy systems in the Olympic Park. It will include biomass boilers using sustainable biomass fuels (woodchip) and gas to generate heat, and a Combined Cooling Heat and Power (CCHP) plant to capture the heat generated by electricity production. The site-wide heat network will be used to generate domestic hot water and to heat the Aquatics Centre swimming pools and other venues and buildings.

The energy centre is due to be built by preferred bidder SUEZ Group, through its subsidiary Elyo, and is being designed by John McAslan Architects.

Part of the utilities infrastructure will be housed within an existing Victorian building at Kings Yard in the west of the Olympic Park which will be retained and renovated. Construction work on the new Energy Centre building will begin in the summer to coincide with the start of work on the main venues in the Olympic Park, allowing the utilities connections to be fitted into the building foundations at the start of construction.