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29 minutes ago Getty Images It is hoped the project would reduce bills A heat network that will run under and alongside the River Thames, using recycled heat to warm 650,000 homes in London, has been awarded £41m in government funding. The London Strategic Heat Main will use excess heat from sources like data centres or factories, and transport it via a system of hot water pipes. The initial phase will cross seven boroughs from Bexley in south London, through Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, City of London, Lambeth, and Westminster.
The funding comes as part of a wider £90 million investment by government into heat networks in London. Heat networks redistribute heat via hot water along a system of pipes to multiple homes Heating homes currently contributes to about a fifth of the UK's planet-warming emissions, the government has reported . The plan, which is already under development but subject to planning, could then be extended across Barking, Dagenham and Tower Hamlets in east London and Kensington and Chelsea in the west.
Eventually, a specially constructed tunnel beside and underneath the River Thames will carry hot water across the capital, and will circulate heat through homes and businesses along the route. While the tunnel is being built, the project aims to transport hot water 15.5 miles (25km) each day using electric barges down the river instead. London Strategic Heat Main The London Strategic Heat Main will run under, and alongside, the Thames Ministers say the project will help unlock about £5bn of investment in London's heat networks and support skilled jobs in tunnelling, engineering and river transport.
The pontoons storing the water tanks could also be developed into "Thames Floating Gardens", with the potential to create new green spaces similar to the embankments built in the 19th century to cover the London Underground. Other projects awarded funding include: £11.5m for a separate heat network development in Bexley and Greenwich, south-east London, which will serve up to 100,000 homes when fully built £11.4m for a heat system in the Marble Arch area that will use water-source heat pumps to take energy from the London chalk aquifer - a large underground layer of chalk rock that stores and transmits rainwater - to heat offices, homes, hotels and businesses around Oxford Street. £5.5m to upgrade the systems serving 1,143 residents at Prospect House in Bermondsey, south London, and the Packington Estate heat network in Islington, north London. Energy minister Martin McCluskey said: "Clean power and clean heat benefit communities across our country.
"Building the infrastructure to deliver it is reindustrialising the UK and rolling out cutting-edge energy technology so families can benefit from lower bills, good jobs and energy security. "For those already using heat networks, we are upgrading inefficient systems to make sure people get the high-quality, low-cost, reliable heating they deserve." It is thought the project could be completed by the early 2030s. More on this story External link
Source: BBC
