Building on the experience gained from the successful implementation of the Crynant minewater scheme supported by Cardiff University’s Seren Project, Nuvision Energy (Wales) Director Dave Tucker assisted Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) in developing a case for creating a district heating project using warm water from the abandoned coal workings in Caerau, Maesteg. BCBC subsequently were successful with a grant application to Welsh Government for European Funding (ERDF) for the Caerau Minewater Project. The project will be a combined district heating scheme with ground source heat pumps for some 300 homes in Caerau in the Upper LLynfi Valley. Warm mine water from the abandoned mine workings beneath the town will be used as the renewable energy source. It is intended that the proposed district heat network will connect to heat pumps that will provide warm water for both space heating and hot water for up to 800 homes in Caerau. The project will be undertaken in phases with Phase One being borehole drilling and activation, installation of pipework infrastructure and the connection to some 300 homes. Rob Francis was project manager for the Cardiff University led feasibility study that addressed the issue of whether a “mine water” heat network is a viable option that can be successfully implemented in the village of Caerau, in the Upper Llynfi Valley, in Bridgend County Borough. The study looked at i) Ground exploration to establish the location of the old mineworkings, ii) The development of a heat generation model, iii) An assessment of the financial viability of the scheme, iv) a comprehensive review of housing type in the study area and v) An engagement strategy. The study identified demand centres, infrastructure requirements and borehole drilling options and showed that with water available at 22 degrees C, overall that the implementation of a mine water district heating network in the village of Caerau is a viable proposition. In 2018, Nuvision Energy (Wales) were appointed Project Managers for the next phase of the scheme which involved developing contract documents for a specialist consultant to undertake a ‘Detailed Project Development Study’ for the scheme.

Avoiding infection in the current pandemic is one of the most important activities in our lives. Hand washing is now routine and controlling bacteria in our homes, offices and workplaces has increased. All supermarkets now provide a hand spray for their trolleys and hand gel for shoppers. These measures will be with us for some time

Heat pumps are one of the Government’s chosen renewable energy technologies for use as an alternative to gas or oil fired heating and are part of the UK’s drive to a zero carbon environment by 2050. They only use electricity and make an excellent partner for low carbon electricity from wind and PV farms. They are available in three formats; ground source, water-to-water or air source and all use the natural environment as the energy source. Ground source heat pumps take heat from the ground through either shallow horizontal pipe systems or looped pipes in sealed boreholes. Water- to- water heat pumps use two open boreholes, one housing a submersible pump which delivers warm ground or mine water to the heat, the second is then used to return the cooled water back to the ground. Air source heat pumps extract heat directly from the air and operate from + 300 to some -200C.

Nuvision Energy Wales have been appointed by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council (RCTCBC) to help them take forward to tender and construction two heat pump projects using the Taffs Well Thermal Spring as the renewable energy source. The Spring which has a water temperature of 21 degrees C flows into the River Taff some 8 km north of Cardiff is the only hot spring in Wales. Research and monitoring by British Geological Survey has proved the age of the Spring water to having fallen as rain in the hills 25km to the north some 5,000 years ago. During the 1700’s the Spring first attracted attention of those ‘taking the water’ as a cure for ailment like arthritis and rheumatism but despite being covered over with a steel building it subsequently fell into disuse until the 1930’s when the present stone housing was built and an adjoining swimming pool added for the local inhabitants. Today only the Spring and its housing remain as part of the many RCT Heritage Trails, but is opened periodically to the public by the ‘Friends of Spring’ who take an active interest in its’ preservation. With its natural flow of warm water it is soon to embark upon a new lease of life as the common source of energy for two water-to-water heat pump projects. One scheme will provide heating for the nearby Park Pavilion and the other will meet the demands from the local Primary School. Heat will be extracted through heat exchangers connected to the existing discharge pipe leading to the river and transferred in insulated pipes to the new heat pumps at the Park Pavilion and School. There will be no change in the Spring flows to the river other than to have a lower temperature water of some 10 degrees C. The project to be will be supported by an application for Reneweable Heat Incentive funding and become part of the programme of works by RCT CBC to maximise renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions in Council owned building in the Borough.

Following an open competition in 2017 Nuvision Energy (Wales) was awarded the Home Energy Services Gateway (HESG) Project for the Bridgend area by the Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) under the Smart Energy Systems and Heat Programme Phase 2 (SSH2). The HESG project is a ‘living lab’ trial of homes which allows energy service providers and home owners to develop and test products, services, business models and processes. Working closely with ESC Nuvision successfully carried out home suitability surveys on over 80 properties within the County boundary and helped identifying those suitable for the trial. The information gathered for each pre-trial property included data on building fabric (walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors, insulation etc), radiator sizes, current energy consumption, all of which enabled the ESC engineers to design a tailored smart system for each home Nuvision subsequently installed the smart heating controls into 30 homes, and have been responsible for maintenance to date. Further phases of surveys and installations were undertaken by Nuvision in 2018 and 2019 but in a wider area of South Wales and Bristol. The SSH Programme s operated by the Energy Technology Institute and covers three mainly Local Authorities in the UK, Bridgend County Borough Council, Greater Manchester and Newcastle and Nuvision are proud to be part of this ambitious, prestigious project, which aims to: Revolutionise the way people think about energy at home. Kick-start the creation of integrated customer service businesses. Transform the supply chain into a customer service fit for the 21st Century. Drive the low carbon transition in home heating through practical, cost effective solutions. The results of the HESG trials will provide a valuable database from which to help build the low carbon future the UK is committed to.

At Nuvision Energy (Wales) we are pleased to offer the SolarVenti Eco friendly ventilation system, an innovative solar powered ventilation system which delivers comfort to your home or work space. The system, developed in Denmark and installed in over 80,000 buildings worldwide, comprises a roof or wall mounted solar ventilation panel that blows warm fresh filtered air into our homes to reduce humidity and remove organic compounds.

Caraventi is the name given to our latest product currently undergoing an initial series of in-house trials. A meeting in 2018 with the owner of a motor caravan hire company who identified the issues of damp an, mildew and mould in leisure vehicles during the winter has resulted in Nuvision Energy undertaking research and first stage development of a solar energy ventilation system as a solution to the problem which effects almost all caravans, motor homes and indeed canal boats in the UK. At present there are over 850,000 leisure vehicles in the UK and almost all of them suffer from the ingress of damp during the Autumn and Winter months, especially when they are 'parked-up' and remain unused until the Spring. This damp causesmould and mildew to develop on the fabrics, window frames and walls which is often difficult to remove and if left unattended can cause progressive damage to the structure and reduction in value of the vehicles, and indeed cause health issue for the user when the vehicles are bought back into use. The challenge therefore is to find a reliable and cost effective solution to the problem of damp for all leisure vehicles, especially for those where there is no access to a power a supply for a dehumidifier. Since conception In the Autumn of 2018 NVEW have designed and built an experimental unit and testing was undertaken on an unused and damp caravan in the Bristol area. Test data since January 2019 from external and internal sensors has shown a reduction in humidity, stable internal temperatures and no mould has developed since the start of the trial. From this successful start and with assistance from a GRP moulding company in South Wales a pre-production prototype was made to replace the experimental unit and the product christened with the name ‘CaraVenti ‘. Data collection from the sensors within the original caravan for performance validation continues together with environmental information on an adjacent identical unheated caravan and from sensors within several of the motor homes owned by the hire company being collected for comparison and system validation. Development work also includes use of a battery to support the photovoltaic panel within the CaraVenti pod for use in winter when daylight hours are short, and work on the roof fixing system is ongoing so that the option for owner installation can be made available. In addition work on the development of a low cost internal environment monitoring system using remote access technology is underway so that vehicle owners will be able to see how the environment within their respective vehicles is being stabilised/improved by the CaraVenti system.