Tube's waste heat to warm hundreds of homes
The project – the first of its kind in Europe – is a partnership between Islington Council, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, UK Power Networks and Transport for London.
The scheme will be run through Islington Council's Bunhill Heat and Power heat network, which already supplies more than 700 homes in Islington with greener heating and is set to reduce the costs of heating for local people.
Under the new project the network will be expanded to capture and utilise two local sources of waste heat, one from a London Underground ventilation shaft and the other from a sub-station owned and operated by UK Power Networks.
"We need to do everything possible to create a more secure, cost-effective and sustainable heat and power supply for London," says Matthew Pencharz, the Mayor of London's Senior Advisor on Environment and Energy. "By supporting locally sourced energy and heat networks which can reduce bills and lower carbon emissions, we can not only save money but also drive innovation, jobs and growth in this burgeoning sector."
Cllr Rakhia Ismail, Islington Council's executive member for sustainability, adds: "Recycling heat from London Underground and the electrical network are exciting new ideas and a boost to our work to tackle fuel poverty and make Islington a fairer place. This cheaper energy scheme is greener too – local communities will see CO2 emissions drop by around over 500 tonnes each year."
The Mayor of London is keen to encourage more locally produced heat and power from smaller generators like Bunhill and to pioneer further projects that use existing sources of waste heat in the capital, rather than allowing it to be wasted by just releasing it into the atmosphere. The Mayor has produced a detailed assessment of these opportunities across London in a new study into London's untapped heat resources 'The Secondary Heat report'.
This demonstration project has been funded by £2.7m from Islington Council who own and run the network, and £1m from the European Union, along with backing from the Mayor, UK Power Networks and Transport for London / London Underground.
The Mayor has targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% and produce 25% of London's energy from local sources both by 2025. He is working to develop decentralised energy and district heating networks and as part of this is developing a new scheme that will give local electricity producers, for example from Combined Heat and Power Plants, a better return on the electricity that they sell.
