Revolutionary renewable energy tech plans to be boosted by further funding

Article date: 24 September 2024

The council has secured £657k from the Government's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to further develop plans for a district heat network, which would harness waste heat produced by local manufacturing.

Plans were initially drawn up last year in a development study, also funded by Government. They detailed how waste heat could be transported through insulated pipes to buildings in St Helens Town Centre, which otherwise rely on expensive, gas-fired boiler systems - providing low carbon heating to the town helping transition to a low carbon Borough. 

Familiar heating controls would be available to each building as the central heating and hot water system works in the same way as a gas-fired central heating system, but without the need for any combustion to take place inside the building.

The network would save thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being emitted over its life span and reduce energy bills for its consumers. 

Councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron MBE, St Helens Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Climate Change, said: 

"Heat networks are one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing carbon emissions from heating and are widely considered essential to the future clean energy infrastructure of towns and cities. 

"They can take sources of low-carbon heat like hydrogen and waste heat from industry to provide cheap and sustainable energy for heating in the local area, via a network of underground pipes carrying hot water. 

"With further funding now secured from Government, I look forward to seeing these plans progress if Cabinet colleagues are in agreement."

The heat network could be developed in phases alongside the regeneration of the town centre and is supported by key stakeholders and partners helping the borough move towards net zero.