Heat from the River Thames could soon warm some of London’s most recognisable cultural buildings as a new £72.7m heat network takes shape on the South Bank.
The Waterloo and South Bank Heat Network will use water source heat pumps to extract low carbon heat from the river and distribute it through underground pipes to major buildings in the area.
Organisations exploring a connection include the BFI Southbank Southbank Centre the National Theatre and King’s College London signalling one of the most high profile heat network schemes yet attempted in the capital.
The project is being developed by Hemiko which has secured £15.6m from the Government’s Green Heat Network Fund to kickstart construction and early infrastructure works.
The network is designed to be built ahead of demand allowing buildings to switch from gas boilers when they are ready rather than waiting for new energy infrastructure to catch up.
Hemiko says heat networks are expected to become the cheapest way to supply heating over time supporting the Government’s pledge to cut household energy bills by up to £300 over the next four years.
Ministers have committed more than £1bn to heat network development and want to double the share of heat demand met by networks within 10 years with more than one million homes connected by 2035.
The South Bank scheme is low carbon from the outset and as buildings connect it will cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 72% over time as gas boilers are phased out.
Gas boilers are currently the largest source of NOx pollution in central London making heat networks a public health as well as an energy intervention.
Hemiko will invest £72.7m in the early phases of the project creating more than 200 jobs with the first phase alone saving 22,000 tonnes of carbon a year equivalent to removing 10,000 cars from the road.
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