Kirklees Council have been awarded over £8 million for the commercialisation and construction of the Huddersfield District Energy Network (HDEN) from the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF).
The GHNF is a 3-year £288 million capital grant fund launched by the Government last year, which is open to organisations in the public and private sectors in England. It aims to develop and grow the heat network market and address some of the challenges of decarbonising the UK’s heat sector.
Kirklees Council have previously benefitted from funding for the various stages of the project, including £300k for the delivery of the outline business case from the BEIS Heat Network Delivery Unit who have since shown their written support of the scheme to progress to the next stage.
This most recent grant funding, a total of £8.2m, includes an initial £1m for commercialisation and a subsequent £7.2m for construction of the network subject to successful completion and approval of the commercialisation stage. Commercialisation includes the final technical design work for this council initiative, setting out the procurement and commercial arrangements for how the HDEN will be constructed and operated, and the proposed customers.
The HDEN is intended to recover heat from the existing Energy-from-Waste (EfW) plant in Huddersfield. A network of underground pipes will distribute heat to public and private sector buildings in the town centre.
The heat network is expected to deliver 7.6GWh of low carbon heat in its first year, rising to 14.2GWh and 21.7GWh in its second and third years respectively. The network will go towards helping Kirklees Council achieve an ambitious target of net zero carbon emissions by 2038 – a target set when Kirklees Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019. It is being designed with ambition for potential future expansion and connection to other heat sources.
Councillor Naheed Mather, Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “District Energy Networks, also known as Heat Networks, are widely recognised as one of the most effective ways of decarbonising the local heat supply in built-up urban areas.
“We recognise the challenges of a changing climate facing the district and are making changes and have set targets of becoming Net Zero and ‘climate ready’ by 2038 for the benefit of Kirklees residents, its wildlife, landscape and biodiversity.”
Councillor Will Simpson, Cabinet Member for Culture and Greener Kirklees, said: “The scale of the Huddersfield District Energy Network (HDEN) would contribute significantly to the decarbonisation of Huddersfield Town Centre and our 2038 targets. It will also provide the town with greater energy resilience and control over the local heat supply along with the potential for future expansion.”
Officers will now start developing the full business case. Once completed, this will go to Cabinet and GHFN, for approval.
