Liverpool City Council has been awarded £46,900 by the Heat Networks Delivery Unit, part of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The new funding will be spent on delivering a feasibility study to see how effective ground source heating and other low carbon technologies could be for Paddington Village in the Knowledge Quarter. The study is all part of the Council’s ambition for Liverpool to be a Net Zero City by 2030.
Extracting heat from groundwater with heat pumps delivers an efficient, low carbon method of heating buildings. As this groundwater heat is recharged by rainwater, it is renewable and sustainable, requiring less electrical energy put in than it extracts as heat. The heat generated is distributed through a District Heat Network serving the local office accommodation and the Novotel.
The existing Heat Network is heated by a CHP (Combined Heat and Power) Plant at Paddington Village, which is currently powered by gas, which would mean that fossil fuel gas would otherwise be used past the 2030 target. The study will explore ways in which:
- The CHP could be replaced by a ground source heat pump or other low carbon technologies (including biomass boilers, water, or air source heat pumps)
- Subsequent District Heat Network heat could be expanded to supply heat to residential and business properties in the immediate surrounding area through a heat network zone.
The findings of the study will help to provide a blueprint for how the Council can both meet its 2030 Net Zero ambition and eliminate fuel poverty for our residents.
