The UK is set for another major heat network after a new Bedfordshire-based project received £16.9 million in funding from the Government’s Heat Networks Investment Project.
Vital Energi will deliver the new project which will take waste heat from the Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility and distribute this to nearby homes and commercial buildings.
The Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility is located in a former brick clay extraction pit near Stewartby and will provide a sustainable alternative to landfill as well as contributing to a more resilient, greener grid. Vital Energi will be constructing the infrastructure which includes heat recovery equipment plus a resilience energy centre which will take heat from the Energy Recovery Facility and convert it into useable low temperature hot water. This hot water is then distributed through a below-ground, thermally efficient district heating network.
The heat network will be future proofed for easy expansion to serve a number of local planned developments and could eventually be capable of delivering circa 30MW of heat to up to 12,000 homes and commercial buildings.
