£65m in support for five UK heat pump projects
3rd November 2023
UK: The UK government is to provide £65m in support for five heat pump projects to supply green energy to thousands of homes and businesses.
One project for the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation in London will be the first of its kind to recycle waste heat from a data centre to supply heating for the local community.
Supplying the London boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, Brent and Ealing, the heat network, backed by £36m in government support, will supply 10,000 new homes and 250,000m2 of commercial space.
This substantial scheme is expected to deliver 95GWh of heat across five phases between 2026 and 2040.
Data centres offer a predictable supply of low grade heat between 20ºC and 35ºC which is often wasted with many centre operators running inefficient plants to reject this heat into the atmosphere.
It is one of five innovative green heating projects in London, Watford, Suffolk and Lancaster allocated grants from the Green Heat Network Fund.
Another of these successful projects will see Lancaster University fully decarbonise its campus, with over £21m in support for a new low-carbon heat network. The heat network will use air source heat pumps, thermal storage and electrical infrastructure to create an innovative heat network providing 45GWh of low carbon heat. This will be sufficient to provide heating and hot water for nearly the entire campus.
Today’s round of funding comes on top of £122m already awarded to support 11 new heat network projects across the country, under the government’s Green Heat Network Fund.
Othe projects receiving funding include a new heat pump housing estate in Chilton Woods, Suffolk. This will see nearly 1,000 homes and a primary school being provided with low carbon heating and a thermal store.
The London Borough of Brent will receive nearly £5.2m for the South Kilburn District Heat Network, supplying heat using air-source heat pumps combined with back up gas boilers to 34 sites via a 2.79km pipe network, connecting 2,900 customers.
Watford Community Housing, a not-for-profit housing association with approximately 5,700 homes, will receive £1.8m of funding to replace an old gas district heating system with ground-source and air-source heat pumps. This will provide heat to 252 apartments across 6 blocks.
