Lend Lease Appoints Veolia to Run District Cooling and Water Treatment Operations at Barangaroo

Lend Lease has awarded Veolia a long term contract to operate and maintain one of Australia’s largest district energy, cooling and water treatment schemes at Barangaroo South in Sydney, New South Wales.

The contract will involve the operations and maintenance of a 62 megawatt district cooling network, high voltage embedded electrical network and a recycled water treatment plant.

Designed and built by Lend Lease, this shared infrastructure will be critical to ensuring a carbon neutral and water positive outcome at this world-class commercial precinct.  Barangaroo South is setting new benchmarks for future sustainable urban communities and energy efficient infrastructure.

The first stage of the Barangaroo South project, comprising of commercial, residential and retail buildings will start to be occupied from mid 2015.  The operation and maintenance of the precinct wide cooling plant by Veolia will ensure optimal thermal comfort for residents, tenants and visitors of the precinct at all times.

Veolia will achieve this comfort through the provision of cooling in the form of cold water supplied from a single central chiller plant. This centralised solution will allow for better utilisation of the commercial space due to the elimination of individual air-conditioning plants for each building within the development, electrical demand and greenhouse gas emissions. Further, this district wide chiller plant will be cooled by sea water from Sydney Harbour, reducing electrical demand and greenhouse gas emissions.

Commenting on this partnership, Mr. Doug Dean AM, Managing Director for Veolia Australia and New Zealand said:

This partnership is an ideal opportunity for Veolia to demonstrate our expertise within energy management, and contribute to a world-class sustainable building initiative. Performing the operations and maintenance services for the district cooling scheme will not only set out a global industry benchmark in terms of performance and reliability, but will also help Veolia to deliver its key aim of supporting our client’s environmental solutions.”

Andrew Wilson, Managing Director Barangaroo South said:

“We have a clear vision for Barangaroo South to be the first carbon neutral precinct of its size in Australia and for it also to be a water positive development.  The use of shared infrastructure, water recycling and harbour cooling are key components in meeting these ambitions.  We are pleased to be working with Veolia which has the experience to deliver these targets.”

Barangaroo South is one of the largest urban renewal projects in Sydney for a generation and one of the most significant waterfront transformations currently underway anywhere in the world.  It will be a vibrant, accessible and sustainable mixed use precinct offering a broad mix of offices, apartments, an international hotel, shops, restaurants, cafes and bars, opens space and foreshore walks.

Veolia is a global leader within district heating and cooling networks, providing unique expertise within the design, construction, operation and maintenance of more than 450 systems worldwide.