Plymouth chosen for 'ambitious' heat network

The network will be used to heat public buildings and homes around Plymouth

Plymouth businesses and homes could soon benefit from an innovative new system of heat networks, Plymouth City Council has said.

The city is just one of a handful of UK locations involved in the government's Heat Network Zoning Pilot.

The council said the network will use waste heat from processes such as manufacturing as a new source of energy, providing a more efficient and lower carbon heating solution.

Councillor Tom Briars-Delve said: "This is an incredibly ambitious and complex project but the demands of the climate emergency are such that we have to be bold in our planning for the future."

He added: "Heat networks like this have the potential to revolutionise how urban buildings - be that commercial or residential - are heated and, in the future, possibly cooled."

The masterplan for the new heat network will be around the southern and western areas of the city.

Here, the infrastructure will be based on two large waste heat sources; the South West Water Central Plant and the Devonport Energy from Waste plant.

A second zone, in the north of the city at Derriford, will focus on energy from the NHS medical waste incinerator and the existing ground source heating scheme at Plymouth Marjon University.

Plans for the first phase, which would see external funding of up to £60m spent on connecting-up major buildings in the city centre with the waterfront, are set to be presented to Cabinet on Monday, 9 September.