The investment proposition:
An enabling policy framework and an outline business case building on a proven model are in place, but the council is unable to access sufficient capital to move the scheme forward. The council is exploring a range of partnership arrangements.
Key facts:
Islington plans to expand the Bunhill heat network near Old Street, which supplies heat to 1,350 homes, schools and leisure centres, from two Energy Centres (EC1&2), the second recovering waste heat from the underground.
The proposed City Forum expansion will connect another 1,000 private homes to the network. The development of the Finsbury Leisure Centre site includes provision for 198 new homes, two large heat pumps and an ambient loop with a heat exchanger connection to the Bunhill network. The development will require the relocation or decommissioning of EC1 strengthening the business case for expanding the network.
The investment proposition is to further expand the network and to add a 3rd Energy Centre using waste heat from the nearby Data Centre. Green Heat Network Funding will support the proposal, and the expansion of the network will enable additional connections to commercial off-takers and potentially to the Citigen heat network. The expansion will save an estimated 116,560 tonnes of CO2e over its lifetime.
Future expansions are envisaged.
The expansion of the Bunhill network is one of four development areas in Islington’s Heat Master plan, the government funded (DESNZ) Advanced Zoning Pilot and the GLA funded CIEN Local Area Energy Plan. Expansion will accelerate with the implementation of heat network zoning, with the Bunhill operators benefitting from incumbency rights.
