A waste heat initiative between the Molyneux Aquatic Centre and Alexandra IceInline has failed to meet expectations - seven years after it was first implemented.

The Vincent Community Board spent $650,000 on the waste heat initiative back in 2018 for the $970,000 ice plant and underground piping, connecting the two facilities in Poole Road.

An earlier study by the Central Otago District Council in 2013 looked into converting waste heat from ice making into heating the pool, and therefore reducing the electricity costs.

The Alexandra pool cost $200,000 a year to operate and an additional $10,000 a month over summer to heat the outdoor pool.

Council recently looked into closing the outdoor pool, to lighten the load on ratepayers, but overwhelming community support has secured its future for now.

The Central App asked council’s parks and recreation manager Gordon Bailey about how the plant was working inside the pool, and he said the savings envisaged have not been made.

When the 20m heat exchanging pipe was built between the two facilities, Canadian company Accent Refrigeration Systems shipped the ice plant to New Zealand, and brought an expert installer to set it up.

Water that became hot when used to cool the refrigerant in the rink plant was transferred through the pipe to the aquatic centre and was meant to help heat the pool.

The water left the ice rink at between 25 degC and 32 degC, and in 2019, Gordon told council that early indications showed energy savings of more than 200%.

But last week he said the waste heat was never intended to be used as the primary source of heating over winter, as there was also a heat pump. He confirmed that the plant had not performed as originally thought.

IceInline chairman Murray Miller said he understood the initiative had successfully increased the temperature at the pool from 27 degC to 28 degC, but for some reason since Covid-19 the plant wasn’t being utilised.

“It’s a wasted opportunity. It’s not that it hasn’t worked, it’s that nobody knows how to work it.”

The underground infrastructure was set up so that in the future it could be extended to Molyneux Estate, Molyneux Park and the two nearby schools, providing heat for the wider community.

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