City's incinerator waste heat project to expand

Coventry City Council is recommended to extend the Heatline contract so it can expand in the city

A low-carbon heating system using waste heat from a city incinerator is likely to be expanded.

Heatline takes hot gases from the London Road Energy from Waste (EfW) facility in Coventry and delivers it via underground pipes to nine buildings in the city centre, including the council house, Coventry Cathedral and the Wave water complex.

A report to the city council recommended a contract with the firm running the scheme should be extended to 2043, so it can offer new customers the service at a commercially viable rate.

The meeting heard the overall revenues had been less than expected, while costs had been higher.

The original network cost about £5.6m, which was paid for using a £2.2m of Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) grant and the Coventry District Energy Company (CDEC).

The network has already been expanded at a cost of about £3.6m.

University buildings connected

The report said the "relatively low customer base" was an underlying factor for the financial performance, and added that increasing the number of customers using the network would help address that.

Eleven Coventry University buildings are being connected to the network, due to be fully completed in 2026, something which the meeting was told would prompt a significant increase in the revenue without affecting the fixed costs of the network.

Funding has also been secured to connect the city's two court buildings, which are hoped to be completed by 2028.

A further 18 buildings could also be connected to the network, but a contract extension would be needed to maximise grant support for this.

"Without the contract extension, CDEC would not be able to offer the new customers a commercially viable heat price and the expansion would not take place," the report said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.