The Energy Center of the Future is Under Construction at Billingstad

In the first phase of construction, an 800 kW heat pump was installed in the central unit, distributing heat to 700 residential units. Now, AF Energi is expanding the energy center with an additional two heat pumps, bringing the total capacity to 2,000 kW.

The heat pumps relieve the power grid by 5.6 GWh per year and supply hot water to 1,600 residential units. The alternative to the energy center would have been for the housing associations to install electric boilers in all the buildings, which would have doubled the load on the power grid.

Residents of Billingstad can thus boast of having hot water in their taps and heating in their homes with modern heat pumps that halve electricity consumption and relieve the power grid.

Fifty new energy wells will be drilled with an average depth target of 350 meters per well. If conditions allow, the wells will be drilled down to 400 meters before completion. Båsum Boring, a long-term partner of AF Energi, is involved in the project. The groundwork is being carried out by Isachsen Anlegg AS.

– In areas like this with a lot of infrastructure, it is important to have good partners, says Kjetil Gurholt Evensen, project manager for AF Energi.

AF Energi employs its own skilled workers for piping and electrical work. With their own design environment and logistics center in Lithuania, they can influence the design and increase the use of prefabricated solutions.

– This saves time and provides a safer workplace with less welding and transport on the construction site, says Kjetil Gurholt Evensen.

Tonje Tangen manages a customer center project, overseeing HSE and quality. She worked at AF Energi in 2022 and wrote her master's thesis on the Billingstad Energy Center in 2023, analyzing data to enhance design and operations. Her thesis highlights that household heating significantly contributes to Norway's electricity consumption, making energy efficiency measures crucial due to rising electricity prices and power grid limitations.

– It's exciting to work with the energy center I studied in my master's thesis, and now be part of phase 2, increasing from one 800 kW heat pump to three with a total capacity of 2,000 kW. Currently, as we drill energy wells, we focus on noise measurements and implementing noise-reducing measures, says Tonje Tangen.

From the energy hub, which is embedded in the mountain beneath the kindergarten, main pipelines carry hot water for both domestic use and heating to the residential blocks. In total, there will be 14 customer centrals in the buildings, serving as the interface between the energy centrals and the internal heating systems of the homes.

The energy hub is the heart of the system. From here, hot water is pumped to the homes, and cooler water returns. In total, more than 10 kilometers of pipes are laid underground to distribute heat to all the homes.

With smarter control and the use of AI, energy can be utilized even more efficiently.

The Billingstad Energy Center has been realized through its own energy company, Billingstad Energi AS, which is owned by developers in the area, including Sandekra AS, JM Norge AS, Ferd Eiendom, and Enaktiva AS. Managing Director Even Gjelsås says they are constantly looking for improvement potential to better utilize the energy center. The latest development is the use of artificial intelligence to optimize for various parameters.

"The new control system can receive input from third-party applications. This way, we can, for example, use electricity prices and weather forecasts to optimize the production and storage of energy. This will increase profitability and further relieve the power grid by trying to use less electricity when everyone else is using it. The local heating center is thus a win-win," concludes Even Gjelsås.