A NEW green heat network being set up in Bradford will act as a “blueprint” for similar low carbon schemes across the country.
The Bradford Heat Network will use air source heat pumps to heat buildings across the city centre, and is due to be completed by 2027.
This week, work to link the University of Bradford and Bradford College to the network began.
The university will be the network’s biggest customer, with 11 of its buildings being heated by the scheme.
The group behind the network says it is using its work in Bradford to plan for a £1 billion investment in setting up similar heat networks across the country.
1Energy 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, as will Bradford City Hall and several other Council-run buildings.
The 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".
A spokesman said: “Using Bradford as a blueprint, 1Energy has ambitions to deploy £1bn within the next eight years into building new city-wide, low-carbon heat networks across the UK, with its innovative model providing the lowest cost, simplest and fastest route to decarbonising heat at scale and a long-term foundation for healthier, greener cities.
"This will be primarily funded by investment from UK and global institutional investors through Asper Investment Management's dedicated fund, which supports the development, construction and operation of 1Energy’s heat networks.
“These networks will play a key role in achieving Britain’s climate goals by providing a locally generated, sustainable alternative to heat produced by fossil-fuel gas boilers, which currently powers over two million businesses and 24.5 million homes, throughout the UK.
“The Bradford Energy Network, for example, is projected to reduce the carbon emissions from heating connected buildings by 80 per cent during its first phase, supporting the Council’s city-wide net-zero targets.”
Andrew Wettern, CEO of 1Energy, added: “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."
Professor Shirley Congdon, vice chancellor of the University of Bradford, said: “This represents a pivotal moment for the city and the UK.
”The network provides an opportunity to show the government how to build a brighter future for young people across the country, with other cities following in Bradford’s footsteps. It shows how we as a university, are enabling positive change, for people and planet.”
Chris Malish, vice principal of Bradford College, said: “Joining the Bradford Energy Network is another significant milestone in Bradford College’s sustainability strategy.
"After all the planned works are complete, a total annual direct carbon saving of over 285 tonnes per year is predicted, moving us a step closer to achieving Net Zero.”
Ade Alao, head of capital improvement at HM Courts and Tribunals Service, said: “Our exciting partnership with the Bradford Energy Network will help cut emissions while heating the court for years to come.
“It will save hundreds of tonnes of carbon emissions over the course of two decades as part of our transition to a more environmentally sustainable courts estate.”
1Energy’s 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.
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