GLASGOW'S DISTRICT HEATING NETWORK
Project Value: £40 million (phase 1) Investment Type: Public/private infrastructure investment Location: Polmadie and Gorbals, Glasgow City Landowner: Glasgow City Council and associated stakeholders Timescale: 2023-2030 Status: Outline business case completed and will be further updated
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Glasgow is focused on transforming its energy production and consumption through a series of projects to build out into a wider strategic district heating network across the city. Following the delivery of the £154 million Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC), a joint partnership between Viridor and Glasgow City Council (GCC), GCC is now looking to kick-start a wider district heating network through two key projects in Polmadie and Gorbals Districts, as well as a unique and innovative proposal to harness the power of the River Clyde for the city’s heat demands.
Glasgow city centre offers potential investors surety of demand with a solid customer base of over 17,000 permanent residents and 1,300 commercial and residential buildings. GCC also has a long-term plan to increase the numbers of permanent residents with strong activity in city centre residential development. At present the yearly heat demand is approximately 140GWh and the River Clyde offers an abundant energy source with the section in line with the city centre capable of providing in excess of 250MWth peak or 2000GWh annually.
Glasgow’s District Heating Schemes
The facility’s state of the art technology has the ability to extract recyclable material from general waste, divert 90% of all council waste from landfill, save 90,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year while also generating enough electricity to power 26,500 homes.
The GRREC is key to the city’s investment opportunities to develop district heating schemes at Polmadie, the Gorbals District, and at the Climate Neutral Innovation District (University of Strathclyde) who is also advancing its plans for a campus wide network.
Scheme 1: Polmadie
GCC is keen to identify investment for a ‘kick starter’ district heating scheme in the area surrounding the GRREC. The initial Outline Business Case concluded that a district heating scheme would bring a range of benefits and that Glasgow should engage with the market for procurement and delivery.
The heat supply from the GRREC would act as the primary low carbon heat source, with top-up and standby heat provided by gas boilers. This heat is effectively 50% renewable and the wholesale cost is lower than the cost of heat from gas boilers, combined heat and power or biomass.
The technical capacity of the heat off-take from GRREC is 38MWth. This proposal offers a modest level of heat extraction that does not significantly shift the operating model for GRREC and it is not envisaged that heat extraction on this scale is likely in the short or medium term.
Scheme 2: Gorbals District
A further study was undertaken for a district heating scheme in the Gorbals District, which would explore the potential for a heat connection from the Polmadie scheme. The connection between the two schemes has the potential to kick start a wider district heating network within Glasgow and create investment opportunities along the route. These opportunities could include:
- The creation of a strategic district heating network (for example, as a “ring main”) with the potential for various distributed energy centres to buy and sell heat to the strategic network.
- The ability for expansion into the city centre and other local areas, crossing the River Clyde using a dedicated pipe-bridge, a combined footbridge/pipe-bridge, or tunnel boring.
Urban Green Space
could supply the equivalent of
(2,763 GWH) of urban heat demand through ground source heat
Urban Blue Space
could supply the equivalent of
(4,974 GWh) of heat deamnd through water source heat from rivers
Urban Green & Blue Space
could supply the equivalent of
(7,737 GWh) of urban heat demand
Saving 892,700 TCO2e
District Heating Network, Queens Quay, Clydebank
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunities for the above schemes are focused on:
- The deployment of energy centres and heat networks at scale, including heat interface technology for delivery into buildings.
- District energy and associated utilities works, surveys, utilities diversions, contracts development, procurement, tendering and installation.
- The ownership, operation, management, and maintenance of district heating networks for extended periods.
- Skills deployment for delivery of this infrastructure.
STATUS UPDATE
An outline business case has been completed and will be further updated.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Gavin Slater
Head of Sustainability, Glasgow City Council email: gavin.slater@glasgow.gov.uk
tel: +44 (0)141 287 8347
