Nottingham City Council energy site needs £700k scaffolding - report

The building was built in 1953 to provide power for nearby Boots factories

Scaffolding needed to maintain a heat station in Nottingham will cost £700,000 over the next five years, it has been revealed.

The 70-year-old facility on London Road was built as an industrial power station and now takes steam from the nearby Eastcroft incinerator.

A turbine then helps provide heating and hot water to around 5,000 homes and 100 businesses across the city.

A report shows "continual maintenance and servicing" is required to run it.

'Day-to-day basis'

Built in 1953 by the Boots company, the hall originally contained coal fired boilers.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the Nottingham City Council report highlights the costs of using the aging building, which handles pressurised steam and high voltage electricity.

It states: "Due to the age of the plant, there is a requirement for scaffolding to be erected on a day-to-day basis to ensure the safe maintenance of high-level assets at the plant.

"This requires specialist scaffolding contractors with the relevant certification and skills to deliver this work.

"There is now a requirement to procure this specialist contractor which is critical to the current maintenance regime to ensure there is not a major failure occur on the plant or system.

"Permanent resource availability enables immediate response to emergency repairs so that downtime is minimised and heat and power supply can be restored in the shortest possible timeframe.

"Failure to have this service in place will lead to delays in getting the turbine running after downtime, delays in getting the heat supply back to customers properties and could lead to the network having to be shut down."

If the network is shut down, it would mean a loss of income to Nottingham City Council Enviroenergy, the report added.

Enviroenergy, which handles 80km (50 mile) of pipes under the city, had been run as a separate company but was taken under direct city council management in 2021 when it emerged it required £17.5m of investment to remain operational.