MEEF funds innovative retrofit of district heating scheme with water source heat pumps supporting Southwark’s green recovery
THE BACKGROUND
The Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund (‘MEEF’) provided £7 million to the London Borough of Southwark (‘Southwark’) for the installation of Water Source Heat Pumps (‘WSHP’) to replace existing gas boilers, across three council housing estates within the Borough (Consort, Newington and Wyndham). The intention is to use the water from the London aquifer and use the WSHP technology to take the naturally heated water to the temperatures required for the district heat network requirements. This has significant green credentials as it is a renewable form of heating and the scheme is eligible to receive the Renewable Heat Incentive (‘RHI’). The scheme provides heat to 2,175 households and has forecast to save 1,774 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
The Heat Pumps will use heat from aquifer water which will be extracted from newly drilled boreholes and installed wellheads. MEEF is also funding some additional equipment and upgrades to the existing Energy Centre infrastructure, heating controls and auxiliaries. Southwark procured Vital Energi to design, construct and deliver the scheme. The scheme supports Southwark in delivering its Climate Emergency declaration as well as Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s ambitions to make London a zero-carbon city and supporting the capital’s green economic recovery.
MEEF selected NatWest as the commercial funding partner to match the MEEF ERDF. The MEEF facility included commitments from the GLA, NatWest and Amber.
SDGs Supported
Facts
Carbon savings per annum (tonnes)
1,774
Energy saving per annum (kWh)
17,404,073
SDGs Supported
