Eurotunnel’s sustainability efforts boosted with completion of new cooling system in landmark Channel Tunnel that delivers energy savings of at least 33 percent or 4.8GWh per year.
Eurotunnel today released official data demonstrating energy savings of 33 percent after the first season of operating a new cooling system for maintaining requisite temperatures in the landmark Channel Tunnel. The operator saved 4.8 GWh and approximately €500,000 in 2017 courtesy of the new cooling system – equivalent to saving enough electricity to run 1,000 households.
The newly-released data from the operation of the new cooling system will dramatically boost Eurotunnel’s sustainability efforts, which, to date have been recognised with its fifth consecutive certification from the UK’s Carbon Trust Standard for a further 9 percent decrease of its carbon footprint in 2015-2016 compared to 2012-2013.
“Eurotunnel’s commitment to environmental protection involves a number of initiatives. We saw the replacement of the Channel Tunnel cooling system as a chance to reduce our energy consumption and carbon footprint,” said François Gauthey, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Getlink, Channel Tunnel owner. “This effort required installing a new cooling system—Europe’s largest—to maintain the Channel Tunnel at optimal ambient temperatures. Honeywell’s Solstice® zd refrigerant, with its ultra-low global warming potential (GWP), and Trane’s chillers, which are already being used to cool large buildings and infrastructure, provided the best combination of features to help us meet our energy and environmental goals.”
The Channel Tunnel connects Folkestone, Kent, in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pasde-Calais, in northern France. Without round-the-clock cooling, the heat generated by highspeed trains passing through the tunnel under the English Channel would drive indoor temperatures above 35°C, which is the maximum that can be reached while still running services in optimal condition. The new system ensures that ambient temperatures stay at or around 25°C.
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