Cardiff Council’s low-carbon district heat network has delivered heat to its first customer: Cardiff and Vale College. Heat will also be supplied to Wales Millennium Centre, the Senedd, and other major buildings in Cardiff Bay over the coming weeks.
The £15.5m project, led by Cardiff Council and delivered through its arm’s-length company, Cardiff Heat Network Limited, was funded through a grant from the UK Government’s Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP) and a loan from the Welsh Government. The network forms a central pillar of the Council’s One Planet Cardiff strategic response to climate change.
Sustainable source of heat and hot water
The network captures heat from steam already produced as a by-product of the process that powers electricity-generating turbines at Viridor’s Trident Park Energy Recovery Facility. The heat is then transported through a network of highly insulated pipes to buildings across Cardiff Bay, where it provides a sustainable source of heat and hot water.
“This is a major milestone on Cardiff’s journey towards carbon neutrality,” said Cardiff Council cabinet member for Climate Change, councillor Dan De’Ath. “Switching on our heat network eliminates the need for connected buildings to have gas boilers, instantly reducing their carbon emissions by up to 80 per cent.
“This is the first city-scale network of its kind in Wales. It represents a significant investment in delivering the long-term infrastructure needed to ensure we play our part in tackling the global challenge of climate change, and build a stronger, fairer, greener Cardiff.”
Read more: smartcitiesworld.net
