A pioneering green heat network being established in Bradford could serve as a “blueprint” for similar low carbon initiatives nationwide, backers say.
The Bradford Heat Network, set to be completed by 2027, will utilise air source heat pumps to warm buildings throughout the city centre. This week, efforts to connect the University of Bradford and Bradford College to the network commenced. The university will be the largest consumer of the network, with 11 of its buildings being heated by the scheme.
The team behind the network is using their work in Bradford to plan for a £1 billion investment in establishing similar heat networks across the country. 1Energy has secured £75m of investment and three anchor customers for the heat pump-powered network in Bradford.
The University of Bradford, Bradford College, and Bradford’s courts building will all be heated by the scheme, along with Bradford City Hall and several other Council-run buildings. The new heat network will facilitate the decarbonisation of heating these buildings.
The heat network will be powered by a new energy plant being built on Thornton Road, and 1Energy says the approach of combining private capital and public investment seen in Bradford will “provide a blueprint to decarbonise cities and towns nationally”.
Andrew Wettern, CEO of 1Energy, said: “We cannot reach net zero without decarbonising heat. We are proud to be delivering a city-wide solution to this challenge for Bradford alongside the University of Bradford, Bradford College, and Bradford Courts.
“The Bradford Energy Network is a flagship project in the UK’s transition to low carbon heating. Crucially, it also provides a blueprint for national rollout, successfully demonstrating how to: deploy institutional investment alongside Government funding, deliver savings for customers in the transition, and decarbonise existing and new buildings across a city through an exemplar low carbon heat network.
“The project is already delivering significant social value and wider benefits to the city – creating new jobs and skills, utilising the local supply-chain and creating a more favourable environment for inward investment into Bradford. Thanks to the support of our key partners, we are able to put Bradford right at the very forefront of decarbonised, healthier cities in the UK and to assist its regeneration and growth.”
The Bradford Energy Network is projected to reduce the carbon emissions from heating connected buildings by 80% during its first phase. It hopes to save the three partners 29,780 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to taking over 21,360 cars off the road.
1Energy is also developing other heat networks to provide green heat to public and private sector organisations in other cities and towns across the country, based on the Bradford blueprint. These include Exeter and Milton Keynes.
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
