Cross-Borough Energy Masterplan

Kensington and Chelsea Council is collaborating with Hammersmith and Fulham Council to undertake a study to explore the potential for net zero compatible district heat networks within both boroughs. This work is supported by the Greater London Authority’s Local Energy Accelerator Programme.

District heat network

A district heat network is a large-scale central heating system for a district or neighbourhood. A network of underground pipes carries hot water from a central plant room and supplies space heating and hot water to a variety of different buildings in a local area. It can be used to capture heat that is available from environmental sources as well as waste heat from other buildings.

District heat networks are already used to heat many towns and cities across Europe, and the government is encouraging their development in the UK. As these systems are able to make use of zero-carbon or low-carbon heat sources, they can provide an alternative to natural gas and will help both boroughs meet their net zero carbon targets. 

The government estimates that around 18 per cent of UK heat will need to come from district heat networks by 2050 to meet our national climate targets. These will be concentrated in towns and cities where higher building density makes them a a cost-effective alternative to other forms of low carbon heating.

Energy Masterplan

The Council, in partnership with Hammersmith and Fulham Council, has contracted the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and Sustainable Energy Ltd (SEL) to undertake the Masterplan.

CSE are collecting data on heat consumption for existing and planned buildings belonging to both councils and other property owners in the area such as businesses, shopping centres, hospitals, hotels, museums, schools, public buildings and residential blocks, most of which currently rely on gas, a fossil fuel.

Kensington and Chelsea is home to many historic buildings and there are 38 conservation areas covering over two thirds of the borough. Decarbonising these buildings will be challenging. Heat networks could potentially provide the solution to help us to work towards our ambitious target to reduce our direct carbon emissions to net zero carbon by 2040.

The Masterplan study will also gather data on potential sources of low carbon heat. This will include heat naturally available from the environment in the air, river and deep underground, including the tube network. It will also explore waste heat from other sources such as data centres, the sewer system and processes such as printing and brewing – much of which can be accessed at low cost.

The project so far

Data described above has been gathered during the early months of 2023. During the spring this will be subjected to analysis and modelling using specialist software, similar to that being developed for national government, to produce a spatial map. The data used for modelling will not contain any personal details or sensitive information. The two councils together with other key stakeholders will then select a number of ‘zones’ that look particularly promising for further in-depth study. This will consider:

• Possible heat sources
• Potential energy centre locations
• Potential pipe routes
• Potential customers: 
  •  buildings which could connect to a heat network
• If the heat network has the potential to expand and adapt over time to provide a pathway to decarbonise as much of the area as possible

The study is due to be completed later in 2023. We will update this page with more information on the project as it progresses.

How you can help

If you are interested in finding out more or getting involved, please email [email protected]. We are particularly interested in hearing from you if you are a local company or organisation, building owner, landlord of residential blocks or a commercial tenant with one or more buildings in the area. Whilst the deadline for collecting data to be used in the Masterplan study has now passed, we’re still keen to hear from people interested in connecting to the heat network. Any details provided are not to be made public and are only accessible by the project team. 
We will keep you informed of progress over the next few months.

The opportunity

• Zero-carbon heating and hot water for the borough, including historic buildings and those in conservation areas: a heat network is likely to be one of the main ways to help create a carbon-neutral city.
• Clean air: a network would help reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions in the Clean Air Zone and improve air quality. Gas boilers account for a fifth of the NOx pollution in London.
• Heat pumps and networks will provide the most cost-effective pathway to net zero carbon heat in many areas of the boroughs.
• The borough already has several heat networks serving mansion blocks and social housing estates, new heat networks are under development at the Lancaster West Estate and are proposed for large property developments within the borough.
• Scale: the high density and diversity of the existing building stock within the borough together with new major property developments offers the opportunity to establish and grow a significant city-scale heat network.

If you have any questions about this project, please contact us at: [email protected].