Huge progress is being made in constructing the new utilities infrastructure that will form the 'backbone' of the Olympic Park, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced.

Construction work is well underway on a new Primary Electrical Substation that will supply electricity to the 2.5sq km Olympic Park and the Stratford City development in Games time and in legacy. The electrical substation is being built by EDF Energy construction and piling works on the substation have now been completed with more than 200 piles driven up to 19 metres into the ground to form the foundations for the building. Work is now underway on the main structure of the building with construction due to be completed by summer 2009.

Work is also starting on site this week on the Energy Centre that will provide an efficient power, heating and cooling system across Olympic Park site for the Games and for the new buildings and communities that will develop after 2012. The contract to build, finance and operate the energy centre was awarded to Elyo, a subsidiary of SUEZ Energy Services, in July. The site of the energy centre has now been cleaned and cleared and Elyo are now on site, testing and surveying the site and installing a piling mat which will allow around 200 piles to be sunk up to 24 metres into the ground in the coming weeks to form the foundations of the building.

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ODA Chairman, John Armitt, said: "These utility networks and infrastructure will power the long-term development of the Olympic Park for many years to come so with construction work well underway, we are building for Games and legacy together from the very beginning.

"The Energy Centre and Electrical Substation will form the heart of the new utilities infrastructure and will be joined by the new utilities networks to form the backbone of the Olympic Park. The progress being made in constructing these essential works is a significant step forwards."

The Electrical Substation and Energy Centre will be located in Kings Yard in the west of the Olympic Park and sustainability is at the heart of the design and construction plans. The energy centre 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 construction of the electrical substation will reuse crushed materials from the demolition of the former Kings Yard buildings in the Olympic Park. The building has also been designed to include a 'brown roof' which involves crushed materials laid down on a flat roof which allow species to colonise naturally. The brown roof will help enhance the ecological value and biodiversity of the Olympic Park site by attracting local wildlife including black redstarts, a rare bird that thrives on brownfield land.

(CD/JM)